willow switch
Bendable tree cutting
A willow switch is a slender, flexible branch cut from a willow tree, traditionally used for whipping as punishment.
The willow's long, pliant shoots made effective implements for disciplining children: Grandma would send us out to cut our own willow switch.
The term evokes old-fashioned corporal punishment, now largely abandoned.
- spare the rodForgo physical discipline
- branchDivision or woody limb
- twigSlender woody shoot
- whipStrikes or aerates
- spankSlap on rear
birch · flexible · sapling · weeping · bark · green · sting · discipline · swish · thin · punishment · tree · bend · snap · supple · hickory · stripe · welt
- whipsbullwhip, horsewhip, riding crop, crop, lash
- Willows and Poplarspoplar, aspen, cottonwood, osier, sallow
willow switchpaddle
Flat-bladed water tool
wooden paddle · board · hairbrush · wooden spoon · plank
willow switchpositive reinforcement
Strengthening behavior through rewards
gentle parenting · reward · praise · time-out · verbal warning
willow, switch, willows, willowy, switches, switched, switching, switchable