Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1792-1958
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SWINK, v.1, n.1 As in Eng., chiefly in liter. usage:
‡I. v. 1. intr. To work hard, toil, labour; to struggle hard or intensely (Fif. 1972). Hence swinkin, ppl.adj., laborious, and transf. of a blow: heavy, ponderous; vbl.n., labour, hard work; swinkt, ppl.adj., tired out with labour, toil-worn. Deriv. swinker, swinkard (poss. thought of as from swink-hard), a toiler, labourer.Sc. 1792 “Juvenis Scoticus” Melpomene 45:
When on the swinkards float the gales.Slk. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 178:
Quhill claught by the lyonis deadly paw, Och! then the egil swinkit for lyfe.Rxb. 1845 T. Aird Old Bachelor 115:
The swinkt labourers of the sweltering day.Bnff. 1853 Banffshire Jnl. (23 Aug.):
We're swarfin' wi' the swinkin' o't.Sc. 1929 Scots Mag. (March) 455:
He gies a swinkin' lick and even John Hasna a single leg to staun' upon.Fif. 1958 T. G. Snoddy Green Loanings 28:
Fate sets us poets some awfu swinkin.
2. tr. To drink copiously, swill, guzzle. Obs. in Eng.Sc. 1884 R. M. Fergusson Rambles 171:
He'll drink mair drink than we can swink.
II. n. Hard work, toil. Arch.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 112:
The plewman frae his day-lang swink Lay restin' on the kitchen-bink.Knr. 1895 H. Haliburton Dunbar 12:
Wi' swink o' brain or sweat o' brow.Sc. 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ ii. i. 55:
Ony swink whilk for a whylock is necessar.
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"Swink v.1, n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 Mar 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/swink_v1_n1>
