Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1722, 1794-1833
[0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
TIFT, n.3, v.3 Sc. variant of colloq. or slang Eng. tiff, a, to drink (of liquor).
I. n. 1. A drink, a draught of liquor; a drinking bout.Sc. 1794 J. Grahame Poems 95:
Wha, whan h' as taen his proper tift, Was ever kent to want the gift O's gab?Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems II. 221:
Wha wad na like but to be there At sic a tift?
II. v. To drink, to toss off, quaff (liquor).Sc. 1722 W. Hamilton Wallace iii. i.:
Well fed were they; nor wanted to propine Among their Friends; but tifted canty Wine.Slg. 1829 G. Wyse Poems 66:
Ilk took his plaid, his feet did lift, Into a tent, his gill to tift.Sc. 1833 M. Scott T. Cringle's Log x.:
Tifting away at the fluids as became an honest sailor.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Tift n.3, v.3". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 8 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tift_n3_v3>
