tawse

English

Etymology

Apparently a plural form of taw, though attested earlier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔːz/
• Rhymes: -ɔːz

Noun

tawse (plural tawses)

1. (chiefly 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.
   • 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:

     I lay about me with the taws / That night and morning I may thrash / Greek Alexander from my flesh, [...]

Alternative forms

• taws

Verb

1. (transitive, chiefly Scotland) To beat with a tawse.

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• Corpun.com, a specialized website on Corporal Punishments

Anagrams

• Sweat, Weast, swate, sweat, waste, wetas