United States clarinetist and leader of a swing band (1910-2004)
"The shaw led his famous swing band to victory in the 1938 big band competition."
United States humorist who wrote about rural life (1818-1885)
"The article was written by George Washington Shaw, a nineteenth-century American humorist known for his sketches of rural life."
United States physician and suffragist (1847-1919)
"The shaw was a prominent voice in the fight for women's voting rights during the late nineteenth century."
British playwright (born in Ireland); founder of the Fabian Society (1856-1950)
"George Bernard Shaw wrote many plays and was a founder of the Fabian Society."
A thicket; a small wood or grove.
"The deer hid in the shaw at the edge of the meadow to escape the hunters."
In plain English: A shaw is an old-fashioned word for a small piece of land, usually used to grow crops or raise animals.
"The old shaw was covered in weeds and needed to be cleared out soon."
An English topographic surname for someone who lived by a small wood or copse.
"The genealogist confirmed that the family name Shaw was originally an English topographic surname indicating their ancestor lived near a small wood."
The word shaw comes from the Old English sċeaga, which originally meant a forest or wood. It is related to words in other Germanic languages like Old Norse and Danish that also refer to woods, but it entered modern usage as a doublet of scaw.