GAWS is valid in Collins, not in North America — 8 points
It depends on the list you play by. GAWS is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 8 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept GAWS?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 32 / 100
Our own measure of how useful GAWS is to know. It scores 8 from 4 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 4.5% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for GAWS
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
gawsyChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF.
How GAWS scores
Face value of the 4 tiles in GAWS, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| g | 1 | 3 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| w | 1 | 2 |
| s | 1 | 4 |
Drawing exactly these 4 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 18,154.
What stands out about GAWS
- The same 4 tiles also spell 2 other words, so the rack is worth re-reading before you play it.
Counted from the four word lists we hold, not taken from anywhere else. How we calculate things
What does GAWS mean in Scrabble?
noun
dialectrare
Imperfect or partial rainbows, once believed to hint at coming weather; the plural of the old dialect word gaw.
Country weather lore used gaws for faint, broken rainbow-like arcs in the sky, treating them as a sign that more rain or wind was on the way. The word survives only in old dialect glossaries of rural weather sayings.
How GAWS is used
Extremely rare, found in older dialect and folklore word lists.
- The shepherds watched the gaws forming over the hills before the storm broke.
- Old sayings claimed two gaws in one day meant a wet week ahead.
- She remembered her grandmother pointing out the faint gaws after the rain.
- The diary mentions strange gaws seen the night before the flood.
- Farmers once read the gaws the way others might read storm clouds.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of GAWS and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Anagrams of GAWS
The 4 tiles of GAWS in a different order — 2 found.
Words starting with GAWS
4 longer words begin with GAWS.
Words ending in GAWS
2 words end in GAWS. Useful as a back hook: play GAWS onto a word already on the board.
Shorter words from the letters in GAWS
Common questions about GAWS
- Is GAWS valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and GAWS is not in it.
- How many points is GAWS worth?
- GAWS is worth 8 points in Scrabble and 9 points in Words with Friends.
- What does GAWS mean?
- Imperfect or partial rainbows, once believed to hint at coming weather; the plural of the old dialect word gaw.
- What letters can be added to GAWS?
- GAWS takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 4 letters of GAWS:
Open GAWS in the Word Finder