taw
/ˈtaʊ//tɔː/
taw verb: to prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew.
Verb (1)
taw (third-person singular simple present taws, present participle tawing, simple past and past participle tawed)
- To prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew.
- To beat; to scourge.
- To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, etc., by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.
Noun (1)
taw
- Tawed leather.
Noun (2)
taw (plural taws)
- A favorite marble in the game of marbles.
- Near the timberyard a squatted child at marbles, alone, shooting the taw with a cunnythumb.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 5]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC
- A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles.
- A dance partner.
- Walk around your corner; see-saw around your taw.
- A favorite person; beloved, partner, spouse.
Verb (2)
taw (third-person singular simple present taws, present participle tawing, simple past and past participle tawed)
- To shoot a marble.
Noun (3)
taw (plural taws)
Verb (3)
taw (third-person singular simple present taws, present participle tawing, simple past and past participle tawed)
- To push; to tug; to tow.
- Swans vpon the Streame to tawe me1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses' Elizium
Proper noun (1) capitalized: TAW
TAW
- The station code of Tai Wai in Hong Kong.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Taw
Taw
taw meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Thai
taw in Tamil
- கோலி விளையாட்டு, கோலி விளையாட்டுக் களவரம்பு
taw in Urdu
- انٹا, افیون, چمڑا کوٹنا, ساتھی, جیون ساتھی
taw in Thai
- Semitic letter
- ตัฟ dtàf
Forms of taw
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | taws |
| present participle | tawing |
| past participle | tawed |
| past | tawed |
| alternative form (obsolete) | tawe |
| Noun | |
| plural | taws |
| alternative form | tav |
| alternative form | taf |
| alternative form | tau |
Origin of taw
From Middle English tawen, from Old English tawian (“to do, make”), from Proto-West Germanic *tawōn, a variant of Proto-West Germanic *tauwjan, from Proto-Germanic *tawjaną (“to make, prepare”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- (“to tie to, secure”). Cognate with Dutch touwen (“to rope, tether, curry”), Dutch tuien (“to fasten with ropes”), German Tau (“rope, hawser, cable”), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan, “to make, prepare”). Related to tool and possibly to tether.
Unknown. Attested in English from the 18th century. Compare Old English tāw (“instrument”). Also compare Irish togh (“choose, elect”).
Compare Phoenician 𐤕 (tāw), Hebrew ת (tav), Arabic تاء (tāʔ).
Words formed from taw
Phrases with taw
Words that rhyme with taw
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about taw
- What does taw mean?
- Taw means to prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew.
- What is taw in Tamil?
- Taw in Tamil is கோலி விளையாட்டு, கோலி விளையாட்டுக் களவரம்பு. See Taw meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is taw?
- Taw can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce taw?
- Taw is pronounced /tɔː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of taw?
- The past tense of taw is tawed.
Words near taw in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: taw (page history and authors); TAW (page history and authors); Taw (page history and authors); taw (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); taw (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-taw.wav.
Cite this entry: “taw.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/taw. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.