Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BRISKET, breaskit, brusket, n. [′brɪskɪt, ′brɪ̢skət, ′brʌskət]

1. The breast of human beings (Abd.⁹, Ags.¹, Slg.³, Fif.¹⁰ 1936). Lnl.¹ 1936 says: gen. used jocularly.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxiii.:
Drive three inches of cauld airn into his breaskit.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 15:
Doun through the fair wi' kilted coats, White legs an' briskets bare.Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 69:
You crack weel o' your lasses there, Their glancin een and brisket bare.

2. “It is used obliquely, and perhaps rather arbitrarily, for the stomach” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man I. iv.:
Twa wanton glaikit gillies; . . . o'er muckle marth i' the back an' meldar i' the brusket.