Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BEAST, Beest, n.² and v. [bist]

1. n.

(1) The player in the card game of loo who failed to take a trick.Bnff.² 1932:
Ye've teen them a', an' I'm a beest.Mearns 1819 J. Burness Plays, Poems, etc. 286:
They play the hand, an' Rob's a beast, An' sae is Davie Lamb.

(2) “One who is overcome” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).

(3) “One who is struck by others, especially in the sports of children” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.).

(4) Phr. “to put the beast on oneself, to take shame to one's self [possibly from Beast,n.¹],” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Sc. c.1700 R. McWard Earnest Contendings for the Faith (1723) 151:
By being in the Bitterness of our Soul, (and instead of such an Union, whereby the Wrong done to Christ is buried) putting the Beast upon our selves, for having been so base, as not to have witnessed more Zeal.

2. v.

(1) To vanquish.Bnff.² 1932:
Play awa', I'm gaan t' try an' beest ye.Abd.¹⁴ 1911:
Beest. To overcome.s.Sc. 1825 Jam.² (s.v. Baist):
This is pron[ounced] beast, which would seem, indeed, to be the proper orthography.

(2) To taunt, to annoy.Ayr.² 1914:
They beastit him that sair et he hud to jine (the army).

Phr.: to get beasted in, To approach something enthusiastically.Sc. 1995 Daily Record 6 Jun 19:
And young Karen Taylor braved the miserable June weather to get beasted in to 1995's first bowl of Scottish strawberries and cream yesterday.Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 10:
beast To get beasted in is to eat heartily and without standing on ceremony: 'There's yer tea oot boys - get beasted in.'Gsw. 1992 Jeff Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! (1993) 232:
I didn't really get beasted in to my household chores, for I'm a staunch believer in the theory of Pellmellicity which holds that, come what may, all things eventually find their rightful places in the gravitational fields.