Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SCOFF, v.1, n. Also scuff; scowf, scouf(f), skowf(f) (ne.Sc.). For the dipthong cf. O, letter, 2. (2) (v). [skɔf, skʌuf]
I. v. 1. To swallow (food or drink) quickly, to gulp down, toss off. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 8:
Ye ranted wi' them and scuff'd aff their wine.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb v.:
Hoot, min, dinna spull the gweed, clean, halesome water — skowff't oop!Arg. 1917 A. W. Blue Quay Head Tryst 42:
Suppose we're scoffin' up hot pies at the Fair.Abd. 1918 J. Mitchell Bydand 13:
An' meetin' wi' a drouthie freen They scouft a gless or twa.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 40:
Scouff't aff, min.
‡2. To filch, steal, plunder, sponge (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., scowf; Ags., Fif., Lth., Slk. 1969). Also in Eng. slang.Lnk. 1885 J. Hamilton Poems 147:
On the fiel's o' brairdin' wheat Comes scouffin' doun the hungry craws.Mry. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 68:
Tho' dark as mirk he scouft an oor An' dockt me ane in twenty-four.
II. n. A large draught of liquor (Bnff. a.1838 Jam. MSS. X. 277).
[Now in gen. slang use but orig. dial. in various parts of Eng. and Scot. Appar. a variant of Scaff, v.1, of Du. orig. The mod. Eng. slang form prob. derives directly from Afrikaans. O.Sc. scoff, to scrounge, 1689.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Scoff v.1, n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/scoff_v1_n>
