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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BOSS, Bose, adj. and n.⁵ [bɔs, bos]

1. adj. Hollow, empty. Hence bossness, hollowness. Also fig.: destitute in means or brains. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1755 Scots Mag. (March) 135:
It is not so boss but it may be filled up again.Sc. 1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xxvi.:
“Na,” said Alan, “her foot still sounds boss upon the bridge.”Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 15:
For he's nae boss, six score o' lambs this year, That's heartning gueed, the match is feer for feer.Fif. 1897 “G. Setoun” G. Malcolm xiv.:
I should ken his head. . . . It's big enough, like his father's; big an' boss.Hdg. 1902 J. Lumsden Toorle, etc. 272:
Nor feckless either e'er was Granny! Furth frae a pow nor sma' nor boss.Arg. 1992:
That floor's bose - is it? Ayr. 1833 J. Kennedy Geordie Chalmers 245:
Beware o' the words, sir, that mak a noise after they're spoken, like a toom barrel after a knock. Beware o' bossness.Ayr. 1996:
Boss - eg of a turnip having no inside.sm.Sc. 1988 W. A. D. and D. Riach A Galloway Glossary :
bose, boss hollow (e.g. of a turnip having no inside). Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.:
The goose is a bonnie bird if it was not bose.

Combs.: (1) boss-hearted, heartless; (2) boss-heidit, empty-headed.(1) Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 127:
A thick-skull, rotten, black, boss-hearted squad.(2) Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 55:
He's ane o' thae boss-heidit chaps.

2. n.

(1) The fore-part of the body from the chest to the loins.Bnff. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 150:
She has a cross aboon her boss, I mean my bonnie Assie O.

Phrases: †(a) boss of the body, “the fore-part of the body from the chest downwards to the loins” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²); (b) boss of the side, “the hollow between the ribs and the haunch” (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif.¹⁰ 1935). (a) Abd. 1872 W. Alexander Aberdeen Free Press :
There came oot the terriblest humour that cud be a' owre the boss o' my body.

(2) “A press [i.e. cupboard] in the wall” (Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Ork. Par. (1922), Gloss.). Evidently a contr. of comb. below.

Comb.: boss-press, idem.Ork. 1914 J. Firth in Old-Lore Misc., Ork., Sh., etc. VII. i. 32:
After a time the father expressed a desire to see it, and was told that he would find it on a shelf of the boss-press.

(3) “A fat consequential man” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 86).