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Taws

 [tawz, tahz]   Origin

taws

   [tawz, tahz]
noun, plural taws. Chiefly Scot.
1.
a whip or leather thong used to drive a spinning top.
2.
a leather whip having its tip divided into smaller strips, used to punish schoolchildren.
Origin:
1505–15; plural of obsolete taw < Old Norse taug rope; cognate with Old English tēag tie

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Taws is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

taw

1   [taw]
noun
1.
a choice or fancy marble used as a shooter.
2.
a game in which marbles are arranged in the center of a circle drawn or scratched on the ground, the object being to knock out as many as possible from the circle; ringer.
3.
Also, taw line. the line from which the players shoot.
verb (used without object)
4.
to shoot a marble.
Origin:
1700–10; origin uncertain

taw

2   [taw]
verb (used with object)
1.
to prepare or dress (some raw material) for use or further manipulation.
2.
to transform the skin of an animal into white leather by the application of minerals, emulsions, etc.
3.
Archaic. to flog; thrash.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English tawen, Old English tawian; cognate with Dutch touwen, Gothic taujan

Related forms
taw·er, noun

taw

3   [tahv, tawv, tahf, tawf]
noun
tav.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
tawse or chiefly (Scot) taws (tɔːz)
 
—n
1.  a leather strap having one end cut into thongs, formerly used as an instrument of punishment by a schoolteacher
 
—vb
2.  to punish (someone) with or as if with a tawse; whip
 
[C16: probably plural of obsolete taw strip of leather; see taw²]
 
taws or chiefly (Scot) taws
 
—n
 
—vb
 
[C16: probably plural of obsolete taw strip of leather; see taw²]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

taw
"to prepare" (leather), from O.E. tawian "to do, make," from P.Gmc. *tawojan (cf. O.Fris. tawa, O.S. toian, M.Du. tauwen, Du. touwen, O.H.G. zouwen "to prepare," O.H.G. zawen "to succeed," Goth. taujan "to make, prepare"), probably related to the root of O.E. tol "tool" (see tool).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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