Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1825, 1916-1996
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1]
GASHLE, v. Also gashel, gaschil.
1. To distort, put out of shape (Abd.3 1949).Also fig.Abd. 1825 Jam.:
“He's gashlin' his beik”; he is making a wry mouth.Abd. 1922 G. P. Dunbar Doric 39:
Wi' gey gashelt sheen Whilk she skushles aroon.Bnff. 1954 Banffshire Jnl. (19 Jan.) 4:
Giein' me another grin fae her gashelt mou'.
Hence gashelbike, a chatterbox. Cf. 1825 quot. above.Abd. (Rayne) 1916 T.S.D.C. II.:
Ye're jist a rael gashelbike.Dundee 1996 Matthew Fitt Pure Radge 4:
syne hauf-sees owre
ah'll whummle ye
cowp yir harns
ramfoozil an bumbaze
gaschil yir rhetoric
an drehve ye
up the waa.
†2. “To argue with much tartness” (Ayr. 1825 Jam.; Ayr.4 1928, obsol.). Hence gashlin, vbl.n., “a bitter noisy argument, in which the disputants seem ready to fly at each other” (Jam.). Of a dog: to show the teeth, to growl or bark threateningly (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 308).
3. To gossip (Abd.2 1949). Gen. as ppl.adj.Abd.15 1928:
The gashlin ted, he wid 'a taul ye that, wid he?
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Gashle v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gashle>
