Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1721, 1798-1818, 1896-1929
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BOUK, Book, Bu'k, n.3 Also buik (Sc. 1867 N. Macleod Starling (1881) xviii.). Bulk, size, quantity. Gen.Sc. [buk Sc., but Abd. + bjuk]Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 35:
Saxty Pounds Scots Is nae deaf Nits: In little Bouk Lie great Bank-Notes.Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage II. x.:
Ane canna ca' their head their ain in't; for ye canna lift the bouk o' a prin, but they're a' upon ye.Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 122:
Gude gear gangs into little bouk.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
"There's no great b[ook] wi' him noo," i.e. he has grown thin.Abd.4 1929:
The bouk o' a bee's blaider, the smallest particle.Dmf. 1925 W. A. Scott Vern. of Mid-Nithsdale in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 19:
Man, I wadna gie ye the bu'k o' my thoom.
Phr. to bear bouk, to look big (important).Lnk. 1798 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 108:
But he'll hae naething in his [pack] but . . . some auld breeks . . . maukin skins, ony thing that fills the bag and bears bouk.
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"Bouk n.3". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bouk_n3>
