paw
n. countablen. the foot of an animal that has claws or nails, like a dog, cat, or bear. If you are being funny, you might call a person's hand a paw.
n. the soft, padded foot of a quadruped mammal, typically one possessing claws. Often used metonymically or humorously in informal speech to refer to a human hand.
The dog licked its muddy paw after the walk.
The cat sat on the windowsill, carefully cleaning each paw with its tongue.
The fresh snow revealed a clear set of bear paws leading away from the campsite toward the dense forest.
From Middle English pawe, from Old French poue, poe, from Frankish pōta, from Frankish pōtōn (“to put, stick, plant”), from Proto-Germanic *putōną, whence also Old English potian (“to push”), pȳtan (“to put out, poke out”). See more at put. Doublet of pote, put, and putt. Cognate with Dutch poot, poten (“to plant”), Low German Pote, German Pfote, Icelandic pota (“to stick”).
The word probably has an origin in baby talk. See pa.
Commonly used in the plural when referring to an animal's movement or tracks.