Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
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: 1801-1803, 1887
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
BOUT, Boult, Boot, v. and n.3 [but, bʌut]
1. v. "To sift flour, meal, etc., through a sieve or fine cloth" (s.Lnk. 1914 T.S.D.C. I.). Cf. Eng. bolt. Boult is entered in Un. Eng. Dict. and N.E.D. as obs. in Mod.Eng.
Hence bout (contr. form of boutit), bouted; boultit (Jam.6), ppl.adj., sifted, refined.Sc. 1802–1803 Scott Minst. Sc. B. II. 118:
There were twal' and twal' wi' baken bread, . . . And twal' and twal' wi' bouted flour.w.Sc. 1887 Jam.6:
The contr. form bout is still common in the West of Sc.; as in testing meal or flour a farmer will say — "Aye, that's bonnie, weel-bout stuff."
2. n. "A sieve " (s.Lnk. 1914 T.S.D.C. I., bout; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., †bout, boot). Comb. bouttcloath, a piece of muslin or the like used for sifting cooking ingredients. Abd. 1801 Ev. Express (6 Nov. 1957):
A sampler made by Mary Tillary, who "finished her bouttcloath on September 25, 1801."
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bout v., n.3". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bout_v_n3>
