Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1790-1828, 1930
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
GUNCH, n. Also gunsh. [gʌnʃ]
1. A thick piece, a hunk (Kcb.4 1900; Cai., Ayr., Kcb. 1955).Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 60:
I keepit aye a gunch o' ham, Or gude auld cheese.Ayr. 1828 D. Wood Poems 36:
Within't they took their mid-day lunch, O' meat they had a gude big gunch.
2. Fig. A short, thick-set person (Cai. 1908 D. B. Nicolson in County of Cai. 74, gunsh s.v. gudge; Cai., Crm., 1916 T.S.D.C. II.; Cai. 1955); anything short, thick and strong (Ib.). Cf. Ginch.
Hence gunshie, adj., short and fat, stout-built, used both of persons and animals (Cai. 1955).Cai. 1930 John o' Groat Jnl. (21 Feb.):
'E peedy, pauky, gunshie kind of swinies they hed oot 'ere.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Gunch n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 1 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gunch>
