Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1821-1851, 1999
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†GASTROUS, adj. Also gasterous, ghastrous. Monstrous (Dmf. 1808 Jam.); shocking, horrifying, unearthly.Rxb. 1824 J. Telfer Border Ballads 68:
[The witches] raise, with ghastrous look.Rxb. 1824 in Rymour Club Misc. II. 46:
His gibbet-like face, and his gasterous-like look.Abd. 1851 Banffshire Jnl. (2 Dec.):
But coming hame I got a gastrous fright.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 17:
An likewise open ivery hert
Sae awbody can see an ken
Each scunnersome an gastrous thing
Scowkin an lurkin ben.
Hence ¶gastrouslye, adv., monstrously, in a horrifying manner.Slk. 1821 Hogg in Scots Mag. (Oct.) 357:
And he gapit gastrouslye.
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"Gastrous adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 8 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gastrous>
