Obs. Also 9 dial. tewter. [Goes with prec., q.v.] trans. To beat or dress (hemp or flax); TAW v.1 Hence Tewtawing vbl. sb.
1601. Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 2. Before it can be occupied, it must be watered, dried, braked, tew-tawed, and with much labor … reduced … to be as soft and tender as wooll.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 333. To Tew-taw Hemp.
1707. Mortimer, Husb. (1721), I. 155. The Method and Way of Watering, Pilling, Braking, Tew-tawing, &c. of Hemp and Flax.
1755. Johnson, Te’wtaw (formed from tew by reduplication), to beat, to break.
1879. Miss Jackson, Shropsh. Word-bk., Tewter, to beat and break the hemp-stalk after it had been subjected to the action of fire.
