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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLOUR, CLOOR, Cloure, Clure, Clow(e)r, n. and v. [klu:r, ′kluər]

I. n.

1. A blow. Gen.Sc.Ork. 1952 R. T. Johnston Stenwick Days (1984) 109:
"Boy," he grated, "if thoo say id wur acceedents again, a'll tak' me stick an' gie thee the best cloor on the side o' the heid that thoo're iver gotten."
Bnff.(D) 1918 J. Mitchell Bydand 16:
Jock hacked th' Germans doon, man; Till haith, he got a cloor 'imsel' That neer-han' crackt his croon, man.
Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web iii:
A wird can be a sword or a snake — far mair lethal nor a cloor; as twisty an sleekit's an aidder.
m.Sc. 1934 J. Buchan Free Fishers vii.:
Tuts' gie me a haud o' him. The chiel's sick, and, gudesakes, he's gotten an unco clour on the heid.
Ayr. 1786 Burns To W. Simpson, Postscript vii.:
Frae less to mair it gaed to sticks; Frae words an' aiths to clours an' nicks.
Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 196:
An' gien an taen was mony a clowr, An' dreadfu'-lookin' gashes.

2. The result of a blow which does not break the skin; a lump or swelling (Bnff.2, Ags.1, Lnl.1, Kcb.1 1936). Also fig.Fif. 1909 Colville 139:
Should playmates fall out there was little sympathy at home with the cloor on the head, the dad i' the lug, or the bluidy nose.
Lnk. 1709 Minutes J.P.s Lnk. (S.H.S. 1931) 59:
Walter Carmichaell . . . left wounds upon his head to the effussione of blood and lumpes and cloures upon the head.
Ayr. 1822 Galt Steam-boat viii.:
Her great adventure . . . but for her open-hearted innocency, would have left both cloors and dunkles in her character.
s.Sc. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems and Songs 315:
Another fell the harrows o'er, And raised upon his shins a clower.

3. The result of a blow on metal, etc.; “a dent or bend in irregular form” (Cai.3 1931; Arg.1, Kcb.1 1936); “the hollow or dent left when a sheet of tin or iron is struck by a hammer or stone” (Kcb.4 c.1900); a hollow or dent in gen.Sc. 1824 Scots Mag. (April) 503:
He also wetted his hat, for the purpose, as he said, of getting out the clures, or dimples.
Cai. 1902 J. Horne Canny Countryside 214:
He could tell you how many clures are in every measure.
Abd.2 1936:
The tilly-pan his a big clour i' the side o't.
m.Sc. 1985 William J. Rae in Joy Hendry Chapman 40 19:
Ogilvy thocht for a meenit, and tuik a fly sklent at some clours he'd wrocht in the bark o the tree in-aneth his nest.
w.Fif.4 1930:
“It's sharely gotten an awfy cloor!” — of the mudguard of a motor-car.
s.Sc. 1885 W. Scrope Salmon Fishing 217:
I ken'd by a clour in the water a gey bit afore me, that there was a big redd there.

4. A hammer.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 86:
Gin ye saw him on lan, haudin his faither's haun, he wis ane o yon short-haired, gap-moued loons fa socht a clour tae drive them forrit; but in watter he dang doon aabody; an unnerwatter the mair sae.

II. v.

1. To deal a blow on, to batter, thump, dent, damage or disfigure in any way. Gen.Sc. Also ppl.adj. clooert. Comb. clourin dab, a knockout blow, a "finisher", any mishap which puts a person or thing out of action or use (Ayr. 1920). Cai.(D) 1922 J. Horne Poems and Plays 41:
Jist till clure him wi' a clod.
Abd. 1993:
I'll cloor yer lug till ye.
Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 28:
Happin trails o weer an clooert pails,
Roosty speens an smaa bleacht birdies' beens,
Wallydraigle Winter's orra troke.
Ags. 1921 V. Jacob Bonnie Joann, etc. 8:
There's bairns wi' guizards at their tail Clourin' the doors wi' runts o' kail.
Fif. 1909 Colville 152:
A Fife man, narrowly examining the impressive mount of the trooper sentry at the gate of the Horse Guards on his first visit to London, was astonished to hear the warning, “Tak care, freend, or mebbes ye'll git your cuitts cloored.”
Arg.1 1932:
His hat wuz cloord an' sclent a wee as if he'd been tastin' (drinking).
Arg. 1993:
He doesna bather me that wey — A could cloor im.
sm.Sc. 1988 W. A. D. and D. Riach A Galloway Glossary :
cloor, clour to beat, thrash.

2. To furrow or wrinkle.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 26:
It's nae just ilka thing will stap his mu', Yet he maun rin, if I but clour my brow.

3. “To broach (stones)” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., clour). Vbl.n. cl(o)uring, the dressing or smoothing the face of a stone with a hard chisel in masonry. Sc. 1860 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 393:
The first operation is wasting, or, as it is termed in Scotland, clouring. This is performed by splitting off the surplus stone with a wedge-formed chisel, termed a point, driven with the mallet, or with an iron hammer.
Rnf. 1856 Private MS.:
The contractor to include in his estimate all douking, cluring, etc., that may be required.

Hence clourer, cloorer, (1) “a pointed chisel made of mild steel, with a short taper, used for dressing the face of hard stones” (Cai.1 c.1920); “a broach or broaching-chisel” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., clourer); (2) “a mason's hammer” (Cai. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.); (Sc. 1899 A. Mathieson & Sons' Catalogue 69).(1) Arg.1 1935:
Hand me ower that cloorer; I want tae cloor the face o' this stone; it's a dour piece o' whunstane.
Dmf. 2000 Betty Tindal Old Mortality 13:
His rig-out wis fenished aff wi a pair o' spentacles, bit as they'd been hard wrought for he only wore them when workin on his letterin, wi the clourer an kinsh.

4. To hammer over (the point of a nail) which is too long for its purpose and projects beyond the wood, to make a kind of rivet (ne.Sc. 1975).

[O.Sc. has clour, clowr, n., a lump or swelling caused by a blow, c.1500–1512; v., to indent, as by a blow. The sense of “a blow” is not given in D.O.S.T. Etymology uncertain; perhaps connected with Cloor, (to) scratch, q.v., but the divergence of meaning makes this doubtful; cf., however, the double meaning of “strike” and “scratch or scrape” s.v. Clyte and Clow. Sense 3 of the v. might belong more properly to Cloor.]

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"Clour n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/clour>

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