taws

[tawz, tahz]

noun

Chiefly Scot.

plural

taws 

1. a whip or leather thong used to drive a spinning top.

2. a leather whip having its tip divided into smaller strips, used to punish schoolchildren.

Word History and Origins

Origin of taws¹

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

Example Sentences

Clearly his Dominie had not abused the taws.

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They will use the taws on baby hands, that cannot make a ‘k’ or a ‘z’ at first sight.

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Marbles are divided into "taws," or well-made strong marbles with which you shoot, and "clays," or the ordinary cheap colored marbles at which you aim and with which you pay your losses.

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In the marble season he was a plutocrat in taws and agates.

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Nor is it to be obviated, we fear, by any expression of extra solemnity thrown into the pedagogical face, or even by the taking of places or the taws.

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