pōtaka
1. (noun) whipping top, spinning top.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 163;)
E kī ana a Te Matorohanga i tākaro rawa hoki ngā atua, i tā pōtaka, i neti, i whai, i tākaro i ērā atu tākaro (TTT 1/9/1923:8). / Te Mātorohanga says that the atua also played games, whipping tops, toy darts of flax strips, string games and other games.
pōtaka tākiri
1. (noun) humming top.
I te wā o Matariki ka tukua kia rere te manu aute a tētahi tangata kua mate i te tau ka hori. Pērā anō mō te pōtaka tākiri ka whai wāhi ki te tangihanga, me tana waiata tāpae e kīia nei he whakaoriori pōtaka (Te Ara 2017). / In the time of Matariki the kite of a person who had died the previous year would be flown. Likewise humming tops could be part of funeral rites, along with an accompanying song called a whakaoriori pōtaka.
2. promontory, headland.
3. a term applied to a tree chopped all round in felling.
4. (adjective) bare, plain, without adornment or appendages.
pōtaka hue
1. (noun) gourd whistle top - made by placing a thin spindle through a hollow gourd, then drilling holes on the side of the gourd. When spun, the top would emit an eerie whistle.
Ka weroa hoki he kōhao i te taha o te pōtaka hue, ina tāia, ka korowhiowhio (RMR 2017). / Holes are bored into the sides of a gourd spinning top and when it is whipped it whistles.
