Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MEESER, n. Also meezer; meiser, mieser, measer (Slg. 1862 D. Taylor Poems 33). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. miser (Sc. 1825 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 64). Hence meesurly, miserly (Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 103). [′mi:zər] As in Eng., a miser, a hoarder; specif. in Heriot's School slang: a boy who hoards sweets and other schoolboy treasures without sharing them among his fellows. Comb. meezer pig, miser-, a child's earthenware or porcelain bank (Slk. c.1880; Sh. 1962). See Pig.Edb. 1898 J. Baillie W. Crighton 12:
He's the biggest skech and meiser in the Wark.