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Glite Dictionary
🥐 A pastry 🐾 An animal claw 🎨 A decorative motif
bear claw

bear claw

1 6.4
A sharp claw from a bear used as an ornament or piece of jewelry
  • noun
  • /bɛr klɔ/
translation icon : garra de oso
  • He admired the intricate design of the bear claw ornament hanging in the shop window.
  • bear claw necklace

Examples

  • Is that a real bear claw or just a replica?

  • The artisan crafted a stunning bear claw bracelet from the natural materials found in the forest.

  • Collectors sometimes display a bear claw as a symbol of strength and courage.

  • He bought a bear claw pendant at the Native American arts festival.

  • The necklace features a bear claw as its centerpiece.

  • Look at this stunning bear claw pendant!

  • She wore a bear claw pendant that was a gift from her grandmother.

Surface Forms

bear claw singular
bear claws plural

Morphology

bear + claw

The meaning is a straightforward descriptive compound: combining 'bear' + 'claw' signals something that resembles a bear's claw, so the decorative motif sense is directly inferable from the constituents. This noun+noun pattern (naming by resemblance) is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words should understand the MWE.

Etymology

Bear claw first meant the real curved claw of a bear, which people in many places wore as a pendant or kept as a sign of 'strength' and 'courage'. That's why today a 'bear claw' can mean the actual animal claw used as jewelry or an ornament.