olotera

plural oloteras

1. A traditional Mexican tool consisting of bound, shortened corncobs, against which ears of corn are scraped against to remove their kernels.

   Timo sat on a log with the olotera between his legs.

   1960, William Madsen, The Virgin’s Children: Life in an Aztec Village Today, Austin: University of Texas Press

   2 more examples

   The Otomi prefer to do it by scraping the ears against an olotera (fig. 8,c), a bunch of corncobs bound together

   1975, Leonardo Manrique C., “34. The Otomi”, in Ethnology (Handbook of Middle American Indians; 7 & 8), Austin: University of Texas Press, page 690

   The woman, who is bent intently upon her work, uses a tool called an olotera to strip the grain from the cob, which she holds between her legs at crotch level, while a large basket is placed between her feet to catch the grain.

   2015, Nancy Deffebach, María Izquierdo and Frida Kahlo: Challenging Visions in Modern Mexican Art, Austin: University of Texas Press, page 126