jaw

A bone or a bony structure forming; a portion, fixed or movable, of the apparatus by which the teeth are brought together; also, in the lower animals, any structure serving a similar purpose; of an instrument, either one of the opposing parts by which it is made to grasp ant object, big j. A common term in Montana for actinomycosis, locked j., lockj. See trismus, lumpy j. A popular term for actinomycosis. [Mid. Eng., jawe, from cheowen, Ang.-Sax., to chew.]