jaw

flap (one's) jaws

To talk in a meaningless, aimless, or idle manner. Jim always starts flapping his jaws after he's had a couple of drinks.

jaw away

To talk incessantly and/or at great length. I became so bored while the professor jawed away at us that I nearly fell asleep in the middle of the lecture. Whenever I meet up with Tammy, our "conversation" is always just her jawing away while I listen patiently on.

snatch (someone) from the jaws of death

To rescue someone at the last moment from near or certain death. Thankfully, the EMTs arrived to the crash in time to snatch the woman and her child from the jaws of death.

be snatched from the jaws of death

To be rescued at the last moment from near or certain death. The drowning fishermen were snatched from the jaws of death by a passing cruise ship.

make (someone's) jaw drop

To cause someone to pause in astonishment, awe, or disbelief, especially with his or her mouth left open. Did you see Kathy's new dress? It's so gorgeous it made my jaw drop! That play was so amazing that it made all of our jaws drop! It made my husband's jaw drop to hear that I was leaving him.

snatch defeat from the jaws of victory

To fail, lose, or be defeated despite the appearance that one would be victorious, especially due to a mistake, error, or poor judgment. (An ironic reversal of the more common "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.") We were ahead by nearly 20 points with less than half the quarter remaining—how on earth did we manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like that? The candidate has led in the polls right up to election day, but with that unfortunate remark last night, he may well have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

See also: defeat, jaw, of, snatch, victory

flap one's gums

and flap one's jaws

Rur. to talk aimlessly. They're still out on the porch, flapping their gums. Well, I can't sit here flapping my jaws all day. Gotta get back to work.

have a glass jaw

Fig. to be susceptible to a knockout when struck on the head. (Said only of boxers who are frequently knocked down by a blow to the head.) When the prizefighter was knocked out cold by a right to the chin in the first round, the newspapers said he had a glass jaw. Once a fighter has a glass jaw, he's finished as a boxer.

jaw about someone or something

Fig. to talk aimlessly about someone or something. Do we have to keep jawing about Tom all day? Stop jawing about your problems and set about fixing them.

jaw at someone

Fig. to lecture at someone; to talk endlessly to someone. Please stop jawing at me. You are jawing at me too much lately.

jaw someone down

Sl. to talk someone down; to wear someone down talking. We'll try to jaw him down. If that doesn't work, I don't know what we will do. We will jaw down the objectors.

snatch someone out of the jaws of death

and snatch someone from the jaws of death

Fig. to save someone from almost certain or imminent death. The soldier snatched the tiny child from the jaws of death.

snatch victory from the jaws of defeat

Cliché to win at the last moment. At the last moment, the team snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a last-second full-court basket.

See also: defeat, jaw, of, snatch, victory

your jaw drops

to show great surprise My jaw dropped when I heard she'd been admitted to Harvard.

jaw

1. n. a chat. I could use a good jaw with my old friend.

2. in. to chat. Stop jawing and get to work.

3. Go to jaw(bone).

jaw someone down

tv. to talk someone down; to wear someone down talking. We’ll try to jaw him down. If that doesn’t work, I don’t know what we will do.

jaw(bone)

tv. to try to persuade someone verbally; to apply verbal pressure to someone. They tried to jawbone me into doing it.

jaw

verb

See jawbone

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Emperatriz	em-pe-rah-TREETH (Spanish), em-pe-rah-TREES (Latin American Spanish)	Spanish
Washti	-	Biblical Hebrew
Hertha	['hɜ:θə]
Inez	['i:nez]
Erica	ER-i-kə (English)	English, Swedish, Italian
Prometheus	prə-MEE-thee-əs (English)	Greek Mythology