taws
Americannoun
-
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of taws
1505–15; plural of obsolete taw < Old Norse taug rope; cognate with Old English tēag tie
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He may also strive to place his adversaries' taws within the inner ring, and to be careful in striking planets that they fall into the orbits where the forfeitures are small.
From The Book of Sports: Containing Out-door Sports, Amusements and Recreations, Including Gymnastics, Gardening & Carpentering by Martin, William
From that moment he ruled them by his eye, the taws vanished.
From Spare Hours by Brown, John
Ne'er use the taws when a gloom will do.
From The Proverbs of Scotland by Hislop, Alexander
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.
From What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
He re-seated her, and taking the taws from her trembling hand, carried it himself to the tyrant.
From Alec Forbes of Howglen by MacDonald, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
