Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1768, 1935
[0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
CHAP, n.1 A fellow, gen. a boy or young man. In this sense common to Sc. and colloq. Eng. The following use, however, is exclusively Sc.: a lover (Cai.7, Bnff.2, Abd.2, Fif.10, Kcb.1 1939). Applied humorously also to a girl, but this is rare in more modern use; cf. Chield, n., 3. [tʃɑp]Mry.2 1935:
Jock Jeemieson was her chap and she niver socht anither.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 30:
Her head lay back, an' her syde chafts sat out, An' o'er her gab hang down a sneevling snout . . . But yet, say what I liked, nought wad do, But I maun gang this bony chap to woo.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Chap n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/chap_n1>
