Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
TEW, v.1, n.1 Also tue, teugh. [tju]
I. v. 1. tr. As in Eng., now obs. or dial., to taw leather; hence to make tough, to shrivel by over-cooking, etc., now esp. in ppl.adj. tewed, tough, shrivelled, sapless, as of fruit (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; s.Sc. 1972).wm.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Meat is said to be tewed, when roasted with so slow a fire that it becomes tough.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 19:
The bruizzin, frizzlin heat turns frush things tewd an rizzert.
2. tr. To fatigue, exhaust, wear out with exertion or hard work (Dmf. 1825 Jam., also of sickness; Bwk., Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 183). Also in n.Eng. dial. Ppl.adj. tued, tewed, exhausted (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 453; Wgt. 1972).Abd. 1868 W. Shelly Wayside Flowers 54:
Sair tewed wi' wark I laid me down.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 233:
They wud be sair tue't afore they gat hum.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 15:
Nor was A tewd or mauchless, bit limber an lither.
3. To rumple, tumble, to pull about roughly. Also fig. to tease, harass, vex.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 130:
Whyles he tews and touzles me.Kcb. 1904 Crockett Strong Mac xxxix.:
Ye were somedeal tewed up wi' a lass, were ye no?
4. intr. To work laboriously, to toil (Slk. 1825 Jam.; Gall. 1904 E.D.D.). Also in n.Eng. dial. and U.S.; to struggle, to strive (Dmf. 1825 Jam.).Edb. 1814 E. P. Nelson Poet. Works 10, 60:
Ane an' twenty years hard teughin' . . . Had it no' been for his wife, Kate, Ne'er a bit he'd teugh'd sae here.s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws xviii.:
To see a lass gae tewin' day and night to put anither lass in his airms.Ayr. 1927 J. Carruthers A Man Beset 82:
Ye maun just tew on at the mathematics.
II. n. 1. A laborious job, a piece of hard work or exertion (s.Sc. 1825 Jam., “always conjoined with an adj. as, sair tews”). Also in n.Eng. dial. and U.S.; a state of difficulty, a strait.s.Sc. 1898 E. Hamilton Mawkin xx.:
'Twas in sair tews we was.Kcb.4 1900:
We had a gey tew, but we gat them dune i' the hinner-en.
2. A state of exhaustion (Bwk., Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 183).
[Mid.Eng. tewe, to make skins into leather, an irreg. variant of taw, which in ne.Sc. has given the form Tyauve, with sim. meanings.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Tew v.1, n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tew_v1_n1>
