Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CHESS, n.¹ †1. “The quarter or any smaller division of an apple, pear, etc., cut regularly into pieces” (Rxb. 1825 Jam.²; 1923 Watson W.-B., obs.); 2. a section of an orange (Ib.). Cf. n.Eng. dial. chess, one tier or layer above another; a row side by side; in pl., the rows of corn in the ear (E.D.D.).1. Sc. [1826] R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes (1870) 158:
I've a cherry, I've a chess; I've a bonny blue glass.