Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell paw

hear itpaw/pɔ/nounLong vowels

What it means: The foot of an animal, especially a quadruped.

In a sentence: The puppy used its paw to play with the ball.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as pwa or po.

Same family: paws, pawed, pawing, pawprint, paw pads. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Paw” comes from Middle French “powe” or “pouwe,” meaning a fist or animal’s foot. It has been used in English since the 1600s to describe the soft, clawed feet of animals like cats, dogs, and bears.

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