Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1824, 1898, 1979
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CLEPPED, CLEPPIE, adj. Webbed (of the fingers).sm.Sc. 1979 Alan Temperley Tales of Galloway (1986) 306:
... the constable's wife was brought to bed with child, and upon taking up the infant the midwife cried out in horror: "The bairn's clepped!" And so it was, the baby's fingers were webbed.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 137:
They [the persecutors] were always called "Cleppie Bells," and the fingers of their hands grew strangely together, which deformity yet attends their race.Wgt. 1898 S. R. Crockett in E.D.D.:
The people believe to this day that the descendants of the hangman [Bell] who officiated at the drowning of the women in 1685 are still born with their fingers "clepped" or webbed.
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"Clepped adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/clepped>
