A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1512, 1567-1596, 1650-1698
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Souse, v.1 P.p. soust, sowsit, sust. [ME and e.m.E. sowse (Trevisa), sowce (c1400), souce (1530), OF sous, souce (Godefroy).] tr. a. To prepare or preserve (meat) by steeping or marinading. Cf. Fust adj. which may be a misreading for this. b. fig. To plunge or immerse in something, as in water, etc. c. p.p. Soaked, drenched in, ? passing into: Covered, besmeared with. —a. 1596 Oldcambus Acc. 12.
Coft of drinke to souse the nowlt feit and panchis with all 6 gallonis 1650 Fugitive Poetry II xxvi 5/51.
I'll have them soust, and then done up in pickle — 1698 Marchmont 184.
[Bill of Fare]: Sust piges —b. 1567 Satirical Poems iv 100.
Quhat toung … in silence suir can rest, To se ane saule in sorow sowsit —c. c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyt. 191 (M).
To clenge thy cabroche howis Quhair thow lyis soust in saufferoun bak and syde
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"Souse v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/souse_v_1>
