Sowl

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To haul or yank someone or something along forcibly, particularly by grabbing the ears or hair, as a dialect or Scots usage
2. Dragging a person or object roughly by the ears or hair, a regional verb used in Scotland and northern England
3. Pulling or hauling something violently along the ground, especially when gripping it by the ears or hair in a rough manner

Etymology: Farmers once had a particular use for this verb: a farmer "sowling" an orphaned piglet pulled its ears to stop it jumping on people, a discipline that a piglet's mother would normally have handed out. Pulling by the ears gives the picture of the wider sense, hauling someone or something along by force. Where the verb came from is unknown. Its closest relatives are German verbs such as "zaulen," "zauseln," and "zausen," all meaning to tug or drag, and it is also related to "tousle." The farming sense and the tugging sense seem to belong together, but the chain of sound changes that links them to those German forms has never been established.