Jaws

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /d͡ʒɔːz/

Definitions

1. The bony parts of the mouth holding teeth and enabling biting and chewing ; a tool part designed to grip, hold, or clamp objects firmly
2. The strong structures making up the mouth that support teeth and assist in biting ; components of a mechanical clamp or device used to hold items in place
3. The pair of bones forming the mouth and containing teeth used for biting ; elements of a gripping mechanism that secure or press objects tightly

Etymology: The word "jaws" is simply the plural of "jaw," and the singular has a murky past. Its earliest English form appears in the 14th century as "jawe" or "jowe," meaning the sides of the lower face, and scholars disagree about where it came from. One possibility runs through Anglo-Norman and Old French "joe," meaning cheek, which traces back to a Vulgar Latin form, though that form's own origin is uncertain. Another proposal links it to an Old English word and, further back, to a Proto-West Germanic root that also gave modern Dutch "kieuw" and German "Keu" and "Käu," both meaning jaw. The plural "jaws" carries the sense of the mouth's two working parts, the upper and lower sets of bone and muscle that clamp down on food. The mechanical sense of a gripping device is a later extension of that picture of two opposing parts closing together.

Synonyms: mandibles, mouths, chews