taws
Americannoun
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.
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.
Clearly his Dominie had not abused the taws.
From Project Gutenberg
They will use the taws on baby hands, that cannot make a ‘k’ or a ‘z’ at first sight.
From Project Gutenberg
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 Project Gutenberg
In the marble season he was a plutocrat in taws and agates.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
