Sentence:  As I turned out of the wood, I heard the shrill tone of infant wailing; and as I came towards the cottage, I saw a fine flaxen-headed urchin, some six or seven years old, stamping and beating himself with his clenched little <WSD>spuds</WSD> of fists, in a perfect ecstasy of passion ... 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Anything short and thick.