Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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: 1808-1827, 1913
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GROZE, v., n. Also grose, gruse, and deriv. ¶grozen. [gro:z; Fif. grʌz]
I. v. †1. To crush, compress (Fif. 1808 Jam., gruse), “to press a person or thing so as to hurt or damage by the squeeze” (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Nai. & Mry. 457). Also freq. gruzzle, “to bruise, to press together” (Fif. 1825 Jam.).Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 86:
Bellies, the heicher they were and fatter, Were dunsched in and grus'd the flatter, Wi' mickle pyne, but doubt.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ iii. xxiii.:
Grozen the tempins whilk wi' grit strouth sailyie me.
†2. To rub off the sharp edge of a tool.Lth. 1808 Jam.:
To grose a mason's iron, to rub it on a stone till the sharp edge of it be taken off.
†3. To graze the skin.Lth. 1808 Jam.:
I have grosed the skin aff my thumb.
4. Mining: “to turn a chisel in the bottom of a borehole by which means the borer, from a sense of feeling and hearing, knows when a change of strata occurs” (Edb.6 1940, groze).
II. n. A squeeze (Fif. 1957).
[Prob. ad. Mid.Du. groezen, to crush, reduce to rubble, greuys, groys, grit, rubble, powdered fragments. The phonology however is uncertain.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Groze v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 2 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/groze>
