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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

INTAK, v., n. Also -take, intack, entick, intick. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. intake. [′ɪntɑk, -tek, -tɪk]

I. v. To take in, in gen. Commonly found in 1. vbl.n. (1) the taking in of goods, crops, etc.; †(2) capture, seizure; †(3) the formal opening or inauguration (of a market); (4) the breaking in and cropping of ground previously fallow; (5) the decrease of stitches in knitting socks, etc. Gen.Sc. Cf. n. 4.; 2. ppl.adj. fraudulent, cheating (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 88); 3. deriv. intaker, one who takes in, e.g. work on behalf of another, a manufacturer's agent.1. (1) Abd. 1758 Abd. Journal (19 Sept.):
She is to ly at Hoar's wharff about three weeks after her arrival at London, for intaking goods for Banff.(2) Sc. 1819 Scott L. Montrose ii.:
One who hath witnessed the intaking of Frankfort, and Spanheim and Nuremberg.(3) Ags. 1728 A. Reid Kirriemuir (1909) 94:
The Bailie decerns and ordains the saidis inhabitants to attend the intakeing of the mercatt as in the usewall method with their best abulziements.(4) Abd. 1723 S.C. Misc. (1935) 46:
He has liberty to labour the said park and must not take more than four cropts at one intaking.Abd. 1735 D. Souter Agric. Bnff. (1812) App. 49:
The reasons of ebb-ploughing, at intaking, are to retain the dung as near the surface as possible.Abd. 1759 Abd. Journal (16 Oct.):
Fit to produce the best Oats, Bear, or Pease, and the rest well rested and fit for Intaking.Bnff. 1922 Banffshire Jnl. (14 Nov.):
I could a few tales unfold concerning the Auchnagorth holdings, such as the history of their “intakin'.”(5) Abd. 1880 W. Robbie Glendornie iv.:
“Tint loops” and “hingin' hairs,” irregularities in the “oot-lattin's” or “in-takin's,” in the setting of the heel or the closing of the toe.2. Lnk. 1880 Clydesdale Readings 160:
Nan got up, an' shakin' the bit roon' laif in his face, misca'd him for a' the intakin' bla'guards.3. Sc. 1764 Forfeited Estate Papers (S.H.S.) 96:
£15 to be allowed for three intakers in the neighbourhood of Glenmoriston.Sc. 1781 Caled. Mercury (12 March):
Linlithgow Bleachfield. Intakers for this field: William Spottiswood and Son, merchants, Gress Market.

II. n. 1. The act of taking in, e.g. food, harvest (Sc. 1808 Jam.); an inhalation, drawing in, e.g. of breath. Gen.Sc.Fif. 1854 S. Tytler Phemie Millar I. vii.:
With her . . . downright intake in the shape of meat and drink.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Dr Jekyll 22:
Mr Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath.Kcb. 1900 Crockett Anna Mark xxvi.:
With a hurried intake of the breath he nerved himself for that which was before him.Fif. 1936 St Andrews Citizen (28 Nov.):
The intake of a peaty atmosphere is much more pleasant than a mouthful of even good motor spirit.

2. A portion of land recently reclaimed and enclosed on a farm (Sh., n.Sc., Ags., Ayr. 1958). Also in Eng. dial. Cf. v. 1. (3).Sc. 1702 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 300:
For setting out trees in the intack and haining . . . . 14s. 6d.Cld. 1825 Jam.:
A designation given to ground which has been more lately taken in from moor. . . . It is common to distinguish this part of a farm as the intack.

3. A place where water is diverted from a river, dam, etc., into a pipe or channel, the dam-head (ne.Sc. 1958); hence the channel or the water thus diverted (Sc. 1808 Jam.); the dam (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 88, intick; Cai., ne.Sc., Ags., Kcb. 1958).Bnff. 1729 W. Cramond Ann. Cullen (1888) 90:
Paid for making intake of the burn at the Neither Bow Bridge . . . £13. 8s. 6d.Ags. 1794 Session Papers, Arbuthnott v. Scott (25 Feb.) 19:
The floodgate, at the eye of the intake of the mill of Murphy, was lowered down considerably.Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 40:
Clip kelpies i' their moss-pot chair, An' water-wraiths at intack drear.Sc. 1814 J. Sinclair Agric. Scot. App. II. 139:
These kind of wears are called Intakes in the North of Scotland, and the mill-stream is called the Mill-lead.Abd. 1900 C. Murray Hamewith 13:
She bann'd the moulter an' the mill, The intak, lade, and dam.

4. A contraction or narrowing; in sewing, the place in a seam where the dimensions are narrowed, a dart (Sc. 1808 Jam.); in knitting, a decrease, gen. in pl. the stitches which are reduced in order to shape a garment, esp. in the leg or foot of a sock or stocking (Cai. 1902 E.D.D.). Gen.Sc.; in building: the offset on a wall, a ledge marking the course at which the thickness of a wall is reduced (Sc. 1946 Spons' Practical Builders' Pocket-Book 440; Fif. 1958).Ayr. 1733 Ayr Presb. Reg. MS. (30 May):
There is an intack in the south side wall at quhich the rain enters & destroys the side wall.Wgt. 1877 W. McIlwraith Guide Wgt. 14:
The memorial . . . after a series of intakes, is formed into a clustered column.Sc. 1880 Plain Hints Needlework 29:
One-third of the foot is the length of the ankle from the last intake or decreasing.s.Sc. 1904 W. G. Stevenson Glen Sloken vi.:
Ma mither wud be muckle obleeged if ye wad gang ower an' tell 'er aboot the intak' o' a stockin'.Ags. 1921 D. H. Edwards Fisher Folks 36:
Mag would find that she had forgot about the intakes of the stocking she was knitting, and discovered that the “leg wis langer than the tither.”

5. Fig. A fraud, deception, swindle, cheat (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1902 E.D.D.; I., n. and em.Sc., Lnk., Kcb., Rxb. 1958).Kcd. a.1826 J. Burness Ghaist o' Garron Ha' 26:
They ca' us nought but intakes a' And dowse us frae their doors awa.Ags. 1840 G. Webster Ingliston xxviii.:
They're a wheen torn doon rascals the doctors, a perfect intak on the public.Abd. a.1880 W. Robbie Yonderton 92:
An' see 'at they binna like the last 'at aw bocht fae ye, for they waur jist a perfect intak.Lth. 1897 P. H. Hunter J. Armiger's Revenge vi.:
Gone in the off foreleg an' sucked his wind forby. Ye never saw sic an in-tak'.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (22 Oct.):
Dat's been wan intak, an' I widna 'a' cared, bit hits da first time at he's been in wattir.Dmf. 1937 T. Henderson Lockerbie 165:
The older folks were out of humour, and described the sermon as a perfect “intak,.”

6. A person who cheats, swindler (Abd. 1808 Jam.; Cai., Ork., Bnff., m.Lth., Bwk. 1958).Sc. 1820 Edinburgh II. 118:
Some even made so bold as to call him an in-tak and an adventurer.Sc. 1857 W. Arnot Laws from Heaven 281:
The counterpart is a terrible truth, — it is more cursed to be an intake than to be taken in.