Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1780-1904, 1959-2003
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PERISH, v. Sc. usages:
1. With personal obj.: to destroy, bring to destruction, kill. Obs. in Eng. Freq. in pass. with reference to being severely chilled. Gen.Sc. Hence deriv. n. perishment, bitter, piercing cold.ne.Sc. 1780 in A. and H. Tayler Lord Fife (1925) 124:
I fancy I shall be perished for cold.Sc. c.1800 Coble o Cargill in Child Ballads No. 242. vii.:
She bored the coble in seven pairts, And let the water perish me.Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize II. xxvii.:
The mourning women and the perished child in the arms.Sc. 1845 J. W. Carlyle Letters (1883) I. 313:
He gave me his pea-jacket to wrap my legs in, for we were all perished with cold.Abd. 1863 G. Macdonald D. Elginbrod lxxi.:
Guid preserve's! ye're clean perished wi' cauld.Knr. 1895 H. Haliburton Dunbar 100:
Ye wouldna hae us, perish'd i' the dark, Return'd upon your hand at morning stark?Sh. 1899 Shetland News (11 Feb.):
A'm sure der nane furt wi' sic a night o' perishment waitin' fer me.Ags. 1903 E.D.D.:
I'm fair perished with the cauld.wm.Sc. 1995 Alan Warner Morvern Callar 35:
Are you perished pet? Come away and sit next to the fire here. Put a bit more coal on if you want to help me, she says.
2. With things as obj.: to squander, dissipate, disperse, bring to naught, wreck; also jocularly of food or drink: to polish off, “do away with”, “sink” (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Kcb. 1965). Phr. to perish the pack, to squander one's money and possessions, spend all one has, waste one's substance (Sc. 1880 Jam.). See Pack.Ayr. 1793 Burns Tam o' Shanter 167–8:
For monie a beast to dead she shot, And perish'd monie a bonie boat.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xciii.:
Your old companion Charlie, her son, perished the pack, and they say has spoused his fortune and gone to Indy.Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie and Bess 23:
Yer faither an' me perished three gills.Ags. 1878 J. S. Neish Reminisc. Brechin 43:
More than once he “perished the pack” when on the spree.Ags. 1903 E.D.D.:
He perish'd a hale platefu' o' porritch.Gsw. 1904 H. Foulis Erchie iv.:
Beer, beer, glorious beer; I'm shair I've perished three gallons this very day.Mry. 1959 Bulletin (23 May):
Seven cats, all with kittens, can perish a queer lot of the stuff [milk].Edb. 2003:
Hae you perished that hail box o choacolates?
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"Perish v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/perish>
