Yes. JAW is a valid word.
JAW is valid in the North American word list used for the Scrabble board game and other crossword tile games.
JAW is in the NASPA Word List 2023 (NWL2023), the North American list that Tileside uses for challenges and the one used in club and tournament play.
About JAW
JAW is the bone that frames the mouth, and as a verb it means to talk at length; its forms include JAWED, JAWING and JAWS. The J and the 4-point W make JAW worth 13 before bonuses, so it is one of the best three-letter J plays. If JAW is on the board, an S makes JAWS, and the S can start a crossing word.
Settle the next one at the table: score your game free in Tileside →
JAW scores 13 points
Before any bonus squares: J 8 + A 1 + W 4 = 13. On a double-word square that's 26, on a triple-word 39, and every letter bonus under one of these tiles is applied first.
Example: JAW as the first play
Later in the game, put the J on a 3L square and JAW is worth 29 before any word bonus.
Hooks: one tile makes a new word
After JAW (1):
- JAWSform of JAW: the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
Place that one tile so it also forms a word in the other direction and both words score.
Longer words from JAW
Other forms of JAW (3):
Words that start with JAW:
- JAWAN(India) a private soldier or male constable
- JAWANSform of JAWAN: (India) a private soldier or male constable
- JAWBONEthe jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth
- JAWLESSof animals having no jaw
- JAWLIKE
- JAWLINE
- JAWBONEDform of JAWBONE: the jaw in vertebrates that is hinged to open the mouth
- JAWBONER
Change one tile
Swap any one letter of JAW and these are still words:
- CAWutter a cry, characteristic of crows, rooks, or ravens
- DAWcommon black-and-grey Eurasian bird noted for thievery
- HAWa spring-flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Crataegus
- LAWthe collection of rules imposed by authority
- MAWinformal terms for the mouth
- NAW
- PAWa clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped
- RAW(used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes
Same letters, other words
No other word in the list uses exactly the letters J, A and W.
Add one tile: words from these letters plus one more
JAW + S
- JAWSform of JAW: the part of the skull of a vertebrate that frames the mouth and holds the teeth
Memory tip
JAW is the bone that holds your teeth. Add an S for JAWS, the shark movie.
On these lists
Check words at the table, free
Tileside keeps score, checks words like this one during a challenge, tracks the tiles left in the bag and times turns. It runs in your phone's browser with no account and works offline.
Tileside checks words against the North American list, the NASPA Word List 2023. Your group's chosen dictionary always wins.
Word list: NASPA Word List 2023, used under license. NASPA Word List 2023 Edition © NASPA 2023. The copy included in this app is licensed for personal use. You may not use it for any commercial purposes.
Works with the Scrabble board game, played at the table. Tileside is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by the makers of Scrabble.