A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1535, 1596
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Bikker, Bicker, n.2 Also: biker, -ar, bikkir, -eir, bykkyr. [ME. biker (c 1300), bikyr, byker (also bekir, -yr, etc.), related to Bikker v.] An encounter or attack with missiles; a skirmish. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace iv. 547.
Inglis bowmen … On Wallace sett a bykkyr bauld and keyn c1475 Ib. xi. 406.
A fell bykkyr the Inglismen began c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 144.
A wonder lusty bikkir [B. bikar, M. bikkeir] me assayit 1535 Stewart 7433.
At dalie bikker spilt wes mekill blude 1535 Ib. 11924; etc.
The bowmen still ȝit at thair bikker baid 1596 Dalr. I. 196/18.
At thair first cuming to, for a certane space was begun a balde biker
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bikker n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 10 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bikker_n_2>
