Link Centre Dictionary

clawback

claw·back

uncommon obsolete us

noun

1.

finding a way to take money back from people that they were given in another way

  • “the Treasury will find some clawback for the extra benefits members received”

Origin

Deverbal from claw back. In the financial senses, refers to something being "clawed back", or reclaimed; in the sense of a flatterer, it suggests the idea of a person's back being scratched (see scratch someone's back).

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.