Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1721-1917
[0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
BEND, v.1, n.1
1. v. To drink hard.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 16:
Which we with greed Bended as fast as she cou'd brew.Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Gloss. 4:
Bend, to drink.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 80:
And aiblins gin he'd bended free A towmond twa.
2. n.
(1) A pull of liquor.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shepherd Act III. Sc. ii. in Poems (1728):
Come, gie's the other Bend; We'll drink their Healths, whatever Way it end.
Phr.: to have a bend, to have a drinking bout.w.Sc. 1879 Kidston Proc. Gen. Assembly F.C. Scot. 62:
"Going on the spree" or "having a bend."
(2) A hard drinker. See Bender.
3. Phr.: bend the bicker, -biker, -bicquor, to drink, from the turning up of the tankard in pouring out the liquor.Sc. 1845 J. Grant Romance of War xxxvii.:
I was dumbfounded and gane gyte that Nicht, and it was a' after I had bent the biker a gay gude while.Mry.(D) 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains 135:
Sic feast, and rant, and bend the bicker And think that they can sit fu' sicker.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 39:
Sing, lads, and bend the bicker, gloamin' draps On Wiston side.Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 22:
In tents the carles bend the bicker, An' rant an' roar like wud.Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems 15:
The wight oppress'd wi' toil and care, . . . But sweetly bends the friendly bicquor, To drown dull care by dint o' liquor.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bend v.1, n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bend_v1_n1>
