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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1814, 1931

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COBS, n.pl. Money.Sc. 1814 Scott in J. G. Lockhart Life of Scott (1837) III. xxxiii.:
I am perfectly serious and confident, that in two or three months you might clear the cobs.n.Ant. 1931 "Ballymoney" in North. Whig (11 Dec.) 13/1:
"He is in boozing his cobs," spending his money in drink.

[A generalised application of cob, a Spanish dollar or "piece of eight," used in Ireland in 17th and 18th cents., and later in various British possessions and U.S.A. (cob-money). Scott himself uses it in this sense (Pirate xxxi.). N.E.D. considers it as prob. the same as cob = anything large.]

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"Cobs n. pl.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 Mar 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cobs>

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