Jaw

JAW, sb.1 and v.1 Var. dial. and colloq. uses in Sc. Irel. Eng. and Amer. Also in forms ja w.Cy. Dor.1; jaa Sh.I. Nhb.1 Cum.1 Cum.4 jah Ess.1; jo Cum.1 Cum.4 [dʒǭ, dʒā.]

1. sb. In comb. (1) Jaw-bit, food carried out in the fields by labourers, to be eaten about 10 or 11 o'clock; (2) Jaw-blades, the jaws, chafts; (3) Jaw-bone yat-steads, gateways with pointed arches made of whales' jaw-bones; (4) Jaw-breaker, (5) Jaw-cracker, a long word, difficult to pronounce; (6) Jaw-hole, a fissure or opening in the land, as the mouth of a stream; the arched entrance to a cavern; (7) Jaw-lock, lockjaw; (8) Jaw-locked, lock-jawed; (9) Jaw-work, talk. (1) Wil.1 (2) Nhb.1 (3) e.Yks.1 In the neighbourhood of Hull, formerly the chief port for Greenland whalers, it was customary to set up over gate-ways, whales' jaw-bones in the form of a pointed arch, many of which may still be seen. (4) Nhb.1, e.Yks.1, w.Yks. (J.W.) n.Lin.1 Thaay mak ewse on sich jaw-braakers when thaay talk aboot the'r flooers, 'at I can't tell a wo'd thaay saay, nor tung it efter 'em. s.Lin. He preaached a sarmon as wor nīst and short and wi'out any jawbraäkers (T.H.R.). Oxf.1 MS. add. Lon. ‘I can't tumble to that barrikin,’ said a young fellow; ‘it's a jawbreaker,’ Mayhew Lond. Labour (1851) I. 25. (5) e.Yks.1 (6) n.Yks.2 (7) Ayr. The gun burst and blew aff his thoomb: he dee'd of jaw-lock in a week, Service Dr. Duguid (ed. 1887) 115. w.Yks. T'wife hezzant hed t'jawlock yet, Pudsey Ann. (?1875) Pref. 3. (8) w.Yks. Wi' my mathe woide oppen, an' neearly jaw-lock'd, Hallam Wadsley Jack (1866) xvi. (9) Lan. Le's ha' less jaw-work an' more paw-work fro' th' gentry, Burnett Haworth's (1887) vii.
2. Fig. Talk, chatter; abusive or insolent talk, ‘cheek.’ In gen. colloq. use. Sh.I. Man, howld dy jaw, Sh. News (Aug. 13, 1898). Cai.1 Elg. I'll gar ye haud yer jaw yet, Tester Poems (1865) 118. Abd. Fat's the eese o' a lawvyer gin he hinna a gweed moufu' o' ill jaw? Alexander Ain Flk. (1882) 98. Frf. Come now, mum, no jaw, Willock Rosetty Ends (1886) 166, ed. 1889. Fif. Ne'er gie them surly jaw, nor jeer Whan they for fauts reprove you, Douglas Poems (1806) 82. Rnf. Mungo Martin had grown dry Thro' extra jaw and jobbin', Webster Rhymes (1835) 11. Ayr. A very good sort of a town ─ plenty of punch and plenty of jaw, Galt Lairds (1826) xxvii. Lnk. If ye treat me to ony mair o' yer sma' jaw, I'll rise an' wring the bit neck o' ye, Murdoch Readings (1895) I. 122. Edb. Plagu'd wi' jails and lawwer's jaw, Learmont Poems (1791)
3. Gall. Mactaggart Encycl. (1824). Wgt. Ye lawyers... Wha deaved his lugs wi' learned jaw, Fraser Poems (1885) 227. N.I.1, Nhb.1, Dur.1, Lakel.2 Cum.1; Cum.4 Hod theh jo. Wm. (B.K.), Yks. (J.W.), e.Yks.1 Lan. Bur aw conno' the'r jaw un' the'r gam', Harland Lyrics (1866) 137; (S.W.) Chs.1 Esp. talk which annoys or aggravates. ‘Come, let's have none o' thy jaw.’ Der.2, nw.Der.1, Not.1 n.Lin.1 N---- hed been warkin' doon at th' boddom o' a well, soä I ax'd him, at dinner-time, for jaw like, if he'd seed oht o' ohd Sam. s.Lin. (T.H.R.), Lei.1, War.2, Suf.1 w.Som.1 Kau·m naew! noa·un u dhuy jaa', uls dhee-t bee u-puut· tu doo·urz een kwik stik [Come now! (let us have) none of your abusive language, otherwise you will be put to doors (turned out) very quickly]. Ee·! wai, u-z au·l jaa·, lig u sheep's aid! [He! why, he is all jaw, like a sheep's head!] A very common description of an empty talker. Slang. Desiring him to do his duty without further jaw, Smollett P. Pickle (1751) xxxii. [Amer. 'Twould save holl hay-cartloads o' fuss an' three four months o' jaw, Lowell Biglow Papers (1848) 136.]
4. A jest. Lan. (Hall.) [Not known to our correspondents.]
5. The open-ended tenon for a mortice. Glo.1, w.Cy. (Hall.), Dor.1 5. pl. The breaking part of a stone-crushing machine. s.Yks. (S.K.C.)
6. v. To talk, chatter. Abd. Jawin' wi' the ither lasses, MacDonald R. Falconer (1868)
7. Rnf. Priests may preach and scribes may jaw, Webster Rhymes (1835) 8. Edb. Ither people jaw away About politics o' the day, Crawford Poems (1798) 108. N.I. To talk in an offensive way; to give saucy answers. Cum. Lantie laugh't An' jaw't an' chaff't, Richardson Talk (1876) 86. Yks. (J.W.), Lan. (S.W.) n.Lin. If I stan' jawin' wi' a... yawnax like you she'll maybe be deud afore I get to her, Peacock R. Skirlaugh (1870) II. 88. s.Lin. Nobudy heer'd sich jawin' and argyin' i' all the'r born daäs as wor carri'd on (T.H.R.). Nrf. Mind you don't go loafing and jawing about, Haggard Col. Quaritch (1888) I. vi. Ess.1 She's in a jahing yumer to-day. Slang. They jawed together, fore and aft, a good spell, Smollett R. Random (1748) xxiv. Hence (1) Jawing-shop, sb. a debating society; (2) Jawing-tacks, sb. the mouth; jaws. (1) Brks. Worth more than all the chaps at that jawing shop of yours, Hughes Scour. White Horse (1859) viii. (2) Cor. He gives a shake o' the head to set hes jawin'-tacks loose, ‘Q.’ Troy Town (1888) xi.
8. Phr. to jaw over, (1) to talk over, to persuade; (2) to talk about a person or thing in a loud or offensive manner. n.Lin.1 I doän't want to hev my lass's naame jaw'd oher e' ivery public-hoose e' all th' cuntry side.
9. To scold, vituperate, abuse; to grumble, complain; to taunt. Pret. jew. In gen. colloq. use. Sh.I. Get 'is friends ta start an' jaa me, Sh. News (July 30, 1898). Fif. She jaw'd them, misca'd them For clashin' claikin' haips, Douglas Poems (1806) 125. n.Cy. (J.W.) Lakel.2 He jaw'd me rarely when A spak tull him fer his awn good. w.Yks.2 I.Ma. The master was jawin' boosly enough, Rydings Tales (1895) 114. Der. I wish I was here when you jawed cousin, Le Fanu Uncle Silas (1865) I. 299; Der.2, nw.Der.1, Lei.1, War.2 Lon. Because he kept jawing me, Mayhew Prisons (1862) 550. Suf. He jew good tightly about it (C.G.B.); e.An. Dy. Times (1892). e.Suf. (F.H.) Ken. He did jaw when he heard it (D.W.L.). e.Ken. (G.G.) Sus., Hmp. Holloway. n.Dev. Tamzen and thee be olweys... jawing, Exm. Scold. (1746) l. 307.

JAW, v.2 and sb.2 Sc. Irel. n.Cy. Nhb. Cum. Also in forms jaa Nhb.1; jae Sc. (Jam.) [dʒǭ, dʒā.] 1. v. Of water: to dash, surge, splash. Cf. jow, v.2 6. Sc. A naked craig wi' a burn jawing ower 't, Scott Rob Roy (1817) xxi; The stately tower Whilk proud defies the jawing wave, Lass of Roch Royal, 7. in Child Ballads (1885) II. 223. Frf. The billows around him micht jaw, Watt Poet. Sketches (1880) 105. Per. Aye I faucht wi' the jawin' wave, Ford Harp (1893) 342. Rnf. A burn ‘whiles jawin' like a sea,’ Gilmour Pen-Flk. (1873) 50. Lnk. Sheughs an' deep fur-drains were jawin' To spate the burns, Watson Poems (1853) 26. Ant. (W.H.P.) 2. To pour or dash about a quantity of water. Sc. When it [the elephant] drinks, it sucks up the water with its trunk, ─ and then putting the low end of the trunk in its mouth, by wynding it in, it jaes in the water in its mouth as from a great spout, Law Memorialls (1818) 177 (Jam.). Ayr. [They] jawed a stowpfu' o' water on his heid, Service Notandums (1890) 35; (F.J.C.) Lnk. Bletherum bore her to the vestry, Jaw'd some water in her face, Nicholson Kilwuddie (1895) 80. e.Lth. Nae need to jaw watter on a droun'd moose, Hunter J. Inwick (1895) 194. Gall. ‘Jaw,’ in some of the ancient tongues, means ‘pour’; we use it yet for that in ours, Mactaggart Encycl. (1824) 281, ed. 1876. 3. sb. A wave, billow, breaker. Also used fig. Sc. Ugly, ugly were the jaws That rowd unto their knee, Sir Patrick Spens, 8, in Child Ballads (1885) II. 21. Bnff. Jouk till o'er you gang the jaw, Taylor Poems (1787) 97. Abd. Weet to the skin wi' the splash o' a muckle jaw, MacDonald Malcolm (1875) II. 13. Kcd. [He] Took the wiser coorse to ‘jook, An lat the jaw gang by,’ Grant Lays (1884) 57. Frf. A craft... That... Jinket the jaws On the briny breist o' the main, Watt Poet. Sketches (1880) 20. Fif. Lampin' alang... frae jaw to jaw athort the sea, Tennant Papistry (1827) 3. Lnk. Drink gaed roun' like jaws o' water, Nicholson Kilwuddie (1895) 72. Lth. Scores o' our sturdiest farmers fail To jouk the jaw, An' broken-hairted families haill Gae to the wa', Lumsden Sheep-head (1892) 164. Edb. Upo' the briny Borean jaws to float, Fergusson Poems (1773) 198, ed. 1785. Gall. I had ye baptized,.. and never a whinge or a greet did ye gae when he slappit ye into the thickest o' the jaw, Crockett Standard Bearer (1898) 326. N.Cy.1, Nhb.1 4. A dash or spurt of water; a quantity of water thrown out with a jerk. Sc. A gush of water, &c., such as takes place when we suddenly overset a tub or bucket of water. Grose (1790) MS. add. (C.) nw.Abd. The trance is in a jaw [flood], Goodwife (1867) st. 44. Frf. Anither day he wad be dashed frae head to feet wi' great jaws o' cauld water, Willock Rosetty Ends (1886) 80, ed. 1889. Per. Doon wad thud my ravelled snood, Creatin' sic a jaw, man, Ford Harp (1893) 149. Peb. The nauseous mixture fell Wi' jaws upon the sprawling hash, Lintoun Green (1685) 62, ed. 1817. 5. A large quantity of any liquid. Sc. The cow has gi'en a gude jaw the day, i.e. a large quantity of milk (Jam.). Bnff.1 Jaws of milk, a large quantity of milk (s.v. Haul). Fif. Fisher-Willie and the lairds... wash't their gebbies and their beards In sparklin' jaws o' claret, Tennant Papistry (1827) 84. Rnf. Drown dull care in jaws o' liquor, Picken Poems (1813) I. 80. Ayr. He was gaun to be very big, and order in a great jaw of drink for the company, Service Dr. Duguid (ed. 1887) 125. Lnk. Wee draps gar sense its mettle feel, Grit jaws gar wit an' reason reel, Watt Poems (1827) 109. e.Lth. It poored on maist o' the month o' September, wi' awfu' jaws an' skelps o' rain, Hunter J. Inwick (1895) 9. Cum. Wi' jaws o' yell some durty beutts Pat loft suin in a slatter, Gilpin Sngs. (1866) 275; A certain slight rollick in his voice and accent, perhaps due to the jaws o' yell, Linton Lizzie Lorton (1867) II. 233; Cum.4 [1. Cp. Norw. dial. jaga, to dash or sweep along (Aasen); ON. jaga, to move to and fro (Vigfusson). 3. I am God Tibris... wyth mony jaup and jaw, Douglas Eneados (1513), ed. 1874, iii. 153.]

JAW, see Jay, sb.

JAW, sb. Lan. I.Ma. Dev. 1. In comb. (1) Jaw-locked, suffering from lock-jaw; (2) Jaw-me-tight, a scolding. (1) s.Lan.1 (2) e.Dev. After a bit more jaw-me-tight the lot of us were released, Jane Lordship (1897) 239. 2. Talk. I.Ma. Then it all come out, and the jaw ould Anthony had, Brown Yarns (1881) 34, ed. 1889.