View synonyms for taws

taws

[ tawz, tahz ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Chiefly Scot.

, plural taws.

a whip or leather thong used to drive a spinning top.
a leather whip having its tip divided into smaller strips, used to punish schoolchildren.

Origin of taws¹

1505–15; plural of obsolete taw < Old Norse taug rope; cognate with Old English tēag tie

And you may helpe them much by enlarging their rootes with the taws of the tree, whence you take them.

You went away a fresh-faced lad, scarce weaned from your alley-taws and the chalky ring!

One whipped daily and hourly with a hickory club with leather thongs attached at one end; this he called the "taws."

"You deserve the taws about your back, sirrah, to forget my sacred office so far as to speak so," said the minister.

The game is concluded when all the marbles are shot out of the ring, or all the taws are killed.

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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