Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1891-1949
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0]
KREX, v., n. Also krax, crax, kre(k)k(s), crex, kraiks. [krɛks, krɑks]
I. v. To clear the throat, to cough up phlegm, to hawk, to spit (Sh. 1908 Jak. 1928), 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1960).Sh. 1897 Shetland News (12 June):
Doo's gaun neesin' an craxin' aboot da hoos laek ane at da hicht o' a mort cauld.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 17:
Kraxin' oot o' her craig, an' spittin' apo da flüer.Sh. 1949 New Shetlander No. 18. 14:
Pausing to light his pipe, the man sat eyeing me for some minutes. He then krekksd and said: "Boy, du's da livin' image a dee faidder!"
II. n. A clearing of the throat (Sh. 1960).Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 20:
Shü spak agen wi crex and hurr, I kno no wha's da faat is.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Krex v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/krex>
