Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1773-1829, 1896, 1954
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GIMMER, n.2 A variant of Cummer, n.2, a jocular or contemptuous name for a woman, a female friend, gossip (Mry.2 1870; Abd.27, m.Lth.1 1954). Also in n.Eng. dial.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 4:
She round the ingle with her gimmers sits, Crammin their gabbies wi' her nicest bits.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 51:
Upon my word mither she's a sturdy gimmer.Sc. 1788 R. Galloway Poems 90:
The mim-mou'd gimmers them misca'd.Cai. 1829 J. Hay Poems 73:
Repine at Nature's sharp edged law, Wha thus has taen your aid awa', — Your gimmer dear.Bnff. 1896 A. Cumming Tales 96:
I jist sat me doon to consider their joy, When up cam' a gimmer o' first-rate temptation — I kent by her gab she belanged to Portsoy.Bnff. 1954 Banffshire Jnl. (19 Jan.):
Noo, gin I'd been a young, lauchin' gimmer o' a quine I micht-a been gled tae tak' the road wi' ye.
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"Gimmer n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gimmer_n2>
