Illustrative Context

The cat scratched me with its claws.

Target Sense

• The most generic term for the sharp, pointed, curved and horny body-part at the end of the toes of an animal. As a prototypical case, take the claws of an animal like a cat (except if a language happens to have a narrow term specific to the claws of a cat, in which case select whatever other term is most generic).
• In many languages, the generic term is also applicable to a bird’s claws. Nonetheless, the target sense here is the hard, inflexible and already curved body-part at the end of the toe, that can scratch or snag on a surface (like a cat’s claws). Do not confuse this with (nor select) words that have more the sense of talons (e.g. of a bird of prey), that can refer to the whole set of toes that can physically grab, grasp, grip and hold an object (a branch, or prey) by muscles.
• Some languages have the same basic lexeme for both IE-CoR meanings ‘claw’ and nail, without generally making a distinction between them. In such cases then that same term should be entered for both meanings in that language.
• However, if a language does, like English, have a (common register) distinction between the largely flat, protective covering nail on human fingers, versus the curved, pointed claw on the toes of an animal like a cat, then select the latter here, in contrast to the entry for nail.
• In some languages, the basic word tends to be used more (or even exclusively) in the plural, e.g. Spanish garras, even to an extent English claws itself. If distinctly more natural in your language, simply enter the plural form. (The key interest in IE-CoR is in the cognacy status of the root used in the target meaning, not in the morphology of singular vs. plural.)