Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1743, 1797-1992
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TOSSEL, n., v. Also tossil, tossle, toshel; †taisel, tessel (Sc. 1700 Edb. Gazette (1 April, 27 June)). Variant forms of Eng. tassel (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 271). Gen.Sc. Sc. usages. [tosl; †tesl]
I. n. 1. As in Eng. Comb. tossel-jock, a bonnet with a tassel.Sc. 1743 Caled. Mercury (1 Aug.):
A Scarlet Pistol-Bag trim'd with Silver, fringed, and a Tossel.Sc. 1797 Encycl. Britannica II. 214:
A white sash, with green tossels.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xi.:
The Hessian boots, having cuddy-heels and long silk tossels.Fif. 1873 J. Wood Ceres Races 13:
Big tossel-jocks bob up and doon.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) 96:
A braw noo silk umberell, wi' a sterlin' silver hannel an' a pair o' silk tossels.Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 13:
The hassocks with the tossels.s.Sc. 1962 Southern Annual 28:
The ear flaps were fastened on the top with a broad black braid, making a kenspeckle tossel.Abd. 1992 David Toulmin Collected Short Stories 195:
Brass handles on the ends and black cords and toshels draped along its sides.
2. A tuft or fringe of hair (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per. 1972). Obs. in Eng.Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 79:
A loon fa's een is luikin' oot amo' a tossle o' hair, like a fumert's.
†3. Transf. a dead body hanging on a gallows. Also gibbet tossel, id.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe xxiv.:
If Willie Hill was made a gibbet-tossle o' the morn.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 105:
He wad form a bonnie tossil at the end o' a hemp string.
4. The penis (Abd., Per., Fif., sm.Sc. 1972).
II. v. In vbl.n. tosslin, in weaving: the forming of the thread-ends of a web into tassels (Ags., Per., Slg., Ayr. 1972); ppl.adj. toss(e)l(l)ed, ornamented with tassels, lit. and fig. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1897 H. Hendry Burns from Heaven 38:
The book-brod, tossled roun' and roun'.Lth. 1924 A. Dodds Poppies in Corn 12:
When the catkin's brawly tossel'd.Bnff. 1933 M. Symon Deveron Days 4:
Wi' a tosselled trok o' a nicht-kep on.
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"Tossel n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tossel>
