Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Claw \Claw\, v. i.
   To scrape, scratch, or dig with a claw, or with the hand as a
   claw. ``Clawing [in ash barrels] for bits of coal.'' --W. D.
   Howells.

   {To claw off} (Naut.), to turn to windward and beat, to
      prevent falling on a lee shore.