[jaw] n [ME] (14c) 1 a: either of two complex cartilaginous or bony structures in most vertebrates that border the mouth, support the soft parts enclosing it, usu. bear teeth on their oral margin, and are an upper that is more or less firmly fused with the skull and a lower that is hinged, movable, and articulated with the temporal bone of either side b: the parts constituting the walls of the mouth and serving to open and close it--usu. used in pl. c: any of various organs of invertebrates that perform the function of the vertebrate jaws
2: something resembling the jaw of an animal: as a: one of the sides of a narrow pass or channel b: either of two or more opposable parts that open and close for holding or crushing something between them 3 a: a space lying between or as if between open jaws "escaped from out of the ~s of the whale" b: a position or situation in which one is threatened "rode into the ~s of danger"
4: a friendly chat
[2]jaw vi (1748): to talk esp. abusively, indignantly, or long-windedly ~ vt: to talk to in a scolding or boring manner