An implement used for corporal punishment.
A tawse consists of a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails. The thickness of the leather and the number of tails is variable. Many Scottish saddlers made tawses for local schoolmasters. The tawse was also used for judicial corporal punishment in Scotland as an alternative to the more usual birch. Courts could sentence boys of over 14 but under 16 to up to 36 strokes with an extra-heavy tawse for any offence. This was administered to the offender's bare buttocks. tawse. n. 1. (Education) a leather strap having one end cut into thongs, formerly used as an instrument of punishment by a schoolteacher. vb. 2. (Education) to punish (someone) with or as if with a tawse; whip. [C16: probably plural of obsolete taw strip of leather; see taw²]. A tawse (the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip) is a typically Scottish implement for physical punishment, called tawsing after it, that was often used for educational discipline instead of the English cane (which, like the horse crop, was however used in private schools, usually on bare bottoms or the hands). The tawse is a leather strap with its business end cut into a number of tails (usually two or three). The tawse may be applied to the palm of the hands or the buttocks. tawse. pl.n. Chiefly Scots. 1. A whip or leather thong used to drive a spinning top. 2. A leather whip divided at the end into strips, formerly used to punish children: Solider Aristotle played the taws / Upon the bottom of a king of kings (William Butler Yeats). 1. (Education) a leather strap having one end cut into thongs, formerly used as an instrument of punishment by a schoolteacher. vb. 2. (Education) to punish (someone) with or as if with a tawse; whip. [C16: probably plural of obsolete taw strip of leather; see taw²]. Best Answer: A tawse is the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip. It is an implement for physical punishment, called tawsing. It was used for educational and domestic discipline, primarily in Scotland. The tawse is a leather strap with its business end cut into a number of tails (usually two or three). The tawse may be applied to the palm of the hands or the buttocks. Definition of TAWSE. : a leather strap slit into strips at the end and used especially for disciplining children. tawse also taws \ˈtȯz\. ADVERTISEMENT. probably from plural of obsolete taw tawed leather The tawse, sometimes formerly spelled taws (the plural of Scots taw, a thong of a whip) is an implement used for corporal punishment. It was used for educational discipline, primarily in Scotland, but also in schools in the English cities of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Manchester and Walsall. The tawse was also used for judicial corporal punishment in Scotland as an alternative to the more usual birch. Courts could sentence boys of over 14 but under 16 to up to 36 strokes with an extra-heavy tawse for any offence. This was administered to the offender's bare buttocks. tawse. pl.n. Chiefly Scots. 1. A whip or leather thong used to drive a spinning top. 2. A leather whip divided at the end into strips, formerly used to punish children: Solider Aristotle played the taws / Upon the bottom of a king of kings (William Butler Yeats). 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. 
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what is a tawse