A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1638-1700+
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Stumbling block(e, n. [e.m.E. stomblinge blocke (Tindale), stumblyng blok (1532); Stumbling ppl. adj.] An obstacle, a cause of offence. — 1638 Rec. Kirk Scotl. 158.
And layes no stumbling blocke before them that perisches 1663 Select Biographies I 442.
If one poor soul, minting after God, shall leave off its duty, falling upon the stumbling-block of a Christian's offence 1701 Rothesay Par. Rec. 140.
The minister represented to her … what a stumbling block she was to the people by her frequent miscariages
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"Stumbling Block n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/stumbling_blocke>
