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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MOUT, v., n. Also moot; mut(e) (Ayr. 1880 Jam.); deriv. forms, chiefly in v., 2., mooten, muten; mooter, mouter; moutle, mootle; mootnafee, mutnafi, -efi (Jak.). Sc. forms of Eng. moult, of birds. [mut]

I. v. 1. intr. As in Eng., of a bird: to moult (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 254; m. and s.Sc. 1963). Vbl.n. m(o)utin (Ayr. 1880 Jam.); ppl.adjs. mout(t)in, mouted, mooted, mootened, in the process of moulting, bare of feathers, bald. Also fig. Also tr. to cast (feathers, etc.).Sc. 1760 Caled. Mercury (26 March):
Five foot one inch and a half high, of a dark swarthy complexion, dark moutted hair, a little out-shin'd.Slk. 1813 Hogg Kilmeny (1874) 34:
With a mooted wing and waefu' maen The eagle sought her eiry again.Peb. 1817 R. Brown Lintoun Green 63:
And Sally Sma' wi' mooted smock; Gaed oxteran' frae the green.Ags. 1840 G. Webster Ingliston x.:
The breast-bane o' a hen that's died the lane o't at the mouttin season.Fif. 1860 H. Farnie Fife Coast 75:
Falla' his example, an' flee laigh till your wings feather, an' letna them moot wi' the delusions o' Satan.Abd. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm xviii.:
I'll regaird this as ane o' her fedders 'at the angel moutit as she sat by the bored crag.e.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 297:
Hully an' hairse, as a mootened hoody craw.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 21:
A Peacock had his auld, but braw, claes left, O' whilk by moutin' he had been bereft.Lth. 1921 A. Dodds Antrin Sangs 18:
The mou'tin' hens keep the shed for bield.

2. tr. To fritter away, to consume bit by bit, to take away piecemeal (Rxb. 1825 Jam., mout(er), mooter); intr. to crumble away into fragments, to decay slowly (Lth. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1908 Jak. (1928); Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Ppl.adjs. moutit, muten(ed), mootnafeed, worn away, crumbled into decay (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1963); of persons: wasted through illness.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
This is applied both to things and to persons. Bread is said to be moutit awa', when gradually lessened. It especially respects the conduct of children in carrying it away piecemeal in a clandestine manner. A person is said to be moutit, or moutit-like, when he waxes lean from a decline, or decreases in size from any other cause.Lth., Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
A child is said to “mootle its piece”.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1874) 432:
We might be mootering it [money] away, spending it on this thing an' the ither thing.Fif. 1867 J. Morton C. Gray 32–3:
But, then, ye mootle a' my bread . . . Ne'er mootle at my wheaten laif.s.Sc. 1880 Border Counties Mag. I. 158:
Willie had a very miserable-looking shovel over his shoulder; “mouted” away on all the edges with many a hard day's heaving.Sh. 1900 Shetland News (3 Feb.):
Dey wir been mendin' da byre door, an' dey wir a mootnafeed fael 'at dey wir hüv'd bye.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Of old wool, flesh or fish; to muten awa, to lie mutnin.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 101:
Shü [boat]'s only lyin' yonder apo' da knowe mootnifeein'.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 7:
A was vext A hedna socht a piece i ma pootch for ti mootle i the road.Sc. 1935 W. Soutar Poems in Scots 17:
They gang whaur grief has never gaen; Whaur love is mooter'd o' its micht.

II. n. Freq. with def. art., of birds: the process or period of moulting (Ayr. 1880 Jam.; m. and s.Sc., Uls. 1963).Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller vi.:
While some, wha for weeks hae been housed wi' mout, Get happit in big coat or raughan grey.Edb. 1882 J. Smith Canty Jock 91:
Cod liver oil wes an invaluable specific for craws in the moot.Lth. 1920 A. Dodds Songs 16:
Dowff's a hen, that's in the mou't.