Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - scutch

 I. transitive verb  Etymology: obsolete French escoucher, from Middle French escochier, from Vulgar Latin *excuticare to beat out, from Latin excutere, from ex- + quatere to shake, strike  Date: 1733 to separate the woody fiber from (flax or hemp) by beating  II. noun  Date: circa 1791  1. ~er  2. a bricklayer's hammer for cutting, trimming, and dressing bricks