taws

Noun

tawse (plural tawses)

1. (Scotland) A leather strap or thong which is split into (typically three) tails, used for corporal punishment in schools, applied to the palm of the hands or buttocks.
   • I lay about me with the taws
     That night and morning I may thrash
     Greek Alexander from my flesh, […]1919 March, W[illiam] B[utler] Yeats, “The Saint and the Hunchback”, in The Wild Swans at Coole, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, pages 104–105

See all 2 meanings of tawse

Noun (1)

taw

1. (obsolete) Tawed leather.

Noun (2)

taw (plural taws)

1. 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
2. A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles.
3. (square dancing) A dance partner.
   • Walk around your corner; see-saw around your taw.
4. A favorite person; beloved, partner, spouse.

Noun (3)

taw (plural taws)

1. The 22nd and last letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic.

See all 14 meanings of taw