[f. JAW sb.1 + BONE.] Any bone of the jaws; spec. each of the two forming the lower jaw in most mammals, or the whole bone formed by their combination in others.

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c. 1489.  Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxvi. 562. He gaff constans soo grete a stroke vpon the ere, that he bare it awaye wyth all the iawe bone.

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1551.  Bible, Judg. xv. 15. He founde a Iaw-bone of a rotten asse,… and slewe a thousande men therwith.

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1626.  Bacon, Sylva, § 750. The Iaw-Bones haue no Marrow Seuered, but a little Pulpe of Marrow diffused.

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1709.  Steele, Tatler, No. 129, ¶ 7. It [a tooth] belong’d to the Jaw-Bone of a Saint.

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1793.  Holcroft, trans. Lavater’s Physiog., III. xx. 104. The Chinese … appear to have broad cheeks with projecting jaw-bones.

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1870.  Bryant, Iliad, II. XVII. 190. The javelin entered underneath the ear By the jaw-bone.

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Mod.  A pair of whale’s jaw-bones forming a gateway.

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