Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1714-1715, 1780-1873
[0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
‡FLYRE, v.1, n.1 Also flyer, fleyr, fleir. Sc. forms of Eng. fleer. [fləir]
I. v. 1. As in Eng., to jeer, gibe, to leer, to laugh scornfully or unbecomingly. Now obsol. both in Sc. and Eng.Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 155:
Wi' baith silk and sattins flyre, At Kirk upo' the Sabbath day.Sc. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads I. 348:
He hunkert him down like a clockin hen And flyret at me as I wad hae him.Abd. 1852 A. Robb Poems 26:
Fu' aften flyer't intill her face, An' birz'd her to my duntin' breast.Sc. 1873 D. M. Ogilvy Willie Wabster 8:
But when he scoured anither skite, It gar'd him flyre and flisk and flyte.
†2. To make wry faces, as one about to cry (Ags. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1825 Jam.), sometimes with up; to look surly. Also tr. to twist (the face) in a grimace.Peb. 1715 A. Pennecuik Descr. of Twd. 100:
Falset began to fleir and greet.Abd. 1780 Abd. Jnl. (11 Dec.):
Fu the Clown doth laugh an' flyre His tawny face.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 96:
How then he'd stare wi' sour grimace, . . . Syne flyre like some outlandish race, At wretched me.
†3. To grumble, complain (Rxb. 1825 Jam.).Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales II. 235:
Ye sanna hae that to flyre about.
†II. n. 1. A leer, grin, grimace.Mry. 1790 Aberdeen Mag. 31:
Frae the gardy-chair, syne, wi' a hach an' a flyre, Auld fairnyers will soon be begun.
2. A fit of laughter.Sc. 1714 W. Fraser Hist. Carnegies (1867) 283:
Some in conversation are in a perpetual flyre of laughter, which is very undecent.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Flyre v.1, n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/flyre_v1_n1>
