taws

[ tawz, tahz ]

noun,plural taws.Chiefly Scot.

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 taws

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

And you may helpe them much by enlarging their rootes with the taws of the tree, whence you take them.
A New Orchard And Garden | William Lawson
You went away a fresh-faced lad, scarce weaned from your alley-taws and the chalky ring!
Cardigan | Robert W. Chambers
One whipped daily and hourly with a hickory club with leather thongs attached at one end; this he called the "taws."
Child Life in Colonial Days | Alice Morse Earle
"You deserve the taws about your back, sirrah, to forget my sacred office so far as to speak so," said the minister.
The Shadow of a Crime | Hall Caine
The game is concluded when all the marbles are shot out of the ring, or all the taws are killed.
Every Boy's Book: A Complete Encyclopdia of Sports and Amusements | Various

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