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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STOW, v., n.¹ Also stowe, stou(gh). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. stow (away), to place, pack, fill (a ship, etc.). [stʌu]

I. v. †1. In a pass. sense: to be put or settle down (with something else), to assort (together).Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 189:
Wi' supper in his kyte weel fed, composed o' unco mixie maxies, Whilk stough thegither waur than braxies.

2. Vbl.n. stowing, (1) room, accommodation; (2) in mining: waste or rubbish used to pack disused workings. Also in n.Eng. dial.(1) Abd. 1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 153:
Nor i' the town could there be stowing, For wooers that wonted to ca'.(2) Lnk. 1843 Trans. Highl. Soc. 94:
In an old working, the “stowing” or “packing” in the mines is loaded with beautiful crystals.

3. (1) Specif. of the stomach: to fill with food, to feed, to gorge (I.Sc., ne.Sc., em.Sc. (a), Ayr., Kcb. 1971). Deriv. †stowen, a glutton, poss. a mistake for stower, or for the vbl.n. -in(g), in which case 's in 1825 quot. would represent has; (2) In ppl.adj. stowed (out), crowded with people or things, very full; full to overflowing. (1)Sc. 1725 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1876) II. 176:
A bonny piece land and planting on't, It fattens my flocks, and my bairns it has stow'd.Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
He's a great stowen for his guts.Hdg. 1908 J. Lumsden Th' Loudons 187:
Whan wi' brose folk did themsel's stow.Arg. 1992:
Heavens! A'm that stowed A can hardly move.(2) Gsw. 1985 James Kelman A Chancer 24:
See son the canal's stowed out with fish.Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 66:
stowed or stowed out Pronounced to rhyme with loud, this means packed, absolutely filled with people: 'The Quaich was stowed last night.'Edb. 1986:
The witness room was stowed out with witnesses.Gsw. 1986:
It was just because the terracing was stowed.em.Sc. 1988 James Robertson in Joy Hendry Chapman 52 71:
' ... It wis a Thursday nicht whan this thing happened, pey-nicht, an the baurs wis stowed wi fowk takkin a dram an a pint or twa afore they cairried the lave o their wages hame. ... 'Gsw. 1990:
Stowed in here the night, eh?Edb. 1990:
The pictures wis stowed oot last night.Sc. 1995 Scotsman (7 Feb) 15:
It is the last week in January. The Clachaig is stowed out with climbers who would kill to get on the hill.Sc. 2003 Scotsman (8 Mar) 5:
Lee Germaine, a student, said: "I come here three or four times a week. For me, it's got to be a choice between the Mexican Chicken Oval Bite and Chicken New Orleans Extra Bite - and on a cold day, maybe a bridie. It's always stowed out the door, but it's worth the wait."

4. To sate, satisfy. Sh. 1928 Shetland Times (14 July):
I wis brawly weel stowed, so lay an smokid an read fill we hed wir tay. Ork. 1956 C. M. Costie Benjie's Bodle 41:
A t'irst that's nivir been stowed yet.

5. To reduce to silence, make to shut up (I.Sc. 1971). Cf. Eng. slang stow, to cease speaking, “to dry up.” Vbl.n. stowin, silence (Ork. 1904 E.D.D.), used eclectically in 1929 quot. Phr. deil stow dee, used imprecatively (Sh. 1971).Sc. 1929 Gallovidian 77:
It brak the stowin o' the wuds, That bonnie auld-warld tune.Ork. 1931 J. Leask Peculiar People 134:
Da leuk sheu gaed dem waas seurly aneuch, hid stowed dem onywey.

II. n. In Coopering: a stack or stock-pile of barrels stored away ready for use (ne.Sc., Slg., Fif., Lth., Dmb., Wgt. 1971).Sc. 1970 Scotland's Mag. (Jan.) 34:
They can often discover a “leaker” long before they come to it in a stow.