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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HURE, n., v. Also hore (Jam.); hoor, hooer, whure. [hu:ər, I., m. and s.Sc. †hø: r, ne.Sc. †hi:r, Fif. her]

I. n. 1. A whore, a prostitute, a term of abuse for a woman, esp. one who is promiscuous.m.Sc. 1979 Donald Campbell in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 66:
Your mither was aye faster
nor the skeeliest o hures wm.Sc. 1979 Robin Jenkins Fergus Lamont 7:
'Whure' was a word heard often enough in our district ... mostly it was a term of abuse. I objected strongly to its being applied to my mother, by a stupid fattie like Mrs Lorimer. Sc. 1983 John McDonald in Joy Hendry Chapman 37 44:
A Warl oot o reel - as menseless
as a hure in a hurly. wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 5:
Ah say ... it's them wi' guilty secrets o' their ain
That are are the first to cast the stane!
"Yon's a drunkert" "She's a hure!" Sich brattle
It's a' a case o' the poat cryin' the kettle. em.Sc. 1986 Ian Rankin The Flood 164:
"... Don't you think it's hard enough for me as it is without people laughing at me because my son's going out with a hoor?" Sc. 1991 R. Crombie Saunders in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 28:
He fain wad front the field
An caa them til the stour:
"Let him assay the shield
Wad haud my luve a hure!" m.Sc. 1994 Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay Forever Yours, Marie-Lou 18:
Three month ago, when you come hame drunk an stinkin wi drink fae that 'do' at yir factory, that wis when it happened ... when you forced yirsel oan me like ah wis a hoor aff Saint-Lawrence Main! Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 30:
Yon wis nivvir a wird to lichtlify.
'Hooer o Babylon', bleed-jeelin, Bible
Wird o pooer, stern, magic, tribal. Edb. 1995 Irvine Welsh Marabou Stork Nightmares (1996) 9:
Nae cunt was tae shite oot: eftir aw, the fucking hoor asked fir it. Gsw. 1998 Big Issue (Apr/May) 11:
The street criers [at the Barrowlands market in Glasgow] are 'turns' in themselves. Like the fruit-sellers: 'Erra perra perrs, Cherries furra herries, Flooers furra hoores. Gsw. 1998 Carl MacDougall in Donny O'Rourke and Kathleen Jamie New Writing Scotland 16: The Glory Signs 94:
On his last night home, his father called his sister a hoor, still shouting when he went to bed, banging the furniture around in his room, yelling on his wife in heaven to look after their children. wm.Sc. 1998 Alan Warner The Sopranos (1999) 1:
Orla, still so thin she had her legs crossed to cover up her skinniness, keeked along the line and says, When they from the Fort, Hoors of the Sacred Heart, won the competition last year, they got kept down the whole night and put up in a big posh hotel ... em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 193:
'She was a witch and a hure. And dementit tae. I wouldna credit muckle o whit she had tae say.'

Combs. (1) hoor-hoose, a brothel (Ork., Cai., Bnff., Ags., Edb., Ayr., Rxb. 2000s). (2) hoormonger, a whoremonger (Gsw. 1937 F. Niven Staff at Simson's iii.); (3) hurequeyn, a harlot (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.), see Quean; (4) hurson (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 278), hursen, heerson (Abd.⁶ 1913), whoreson, as a term of abuse.(1)em.Sc. 1992 Ian Rankin Strip Jack (1993) 9:
'It may be a hoor-hoose, but it's on the right side of town, of you take my meaning. No telling who might be in there. ... 'wm.Sc. 1998 Alan Warner The Sopranos (1999) 139:
All over the city, hoorhouses called saunas.

2. A bad, difficult or extreme example (of something) (Sh., Ork., Bnff., Ags., Edb., Arg., Gsw., Ayr. 2000s).m.Sc. 1954 J. D. Scott The End of an Old Song (1990) 42:
He wiped his face with the back of his oily hand and squinted into the bonnet, 'Though,' he added, 'since I'm no' trying to sell her to you, I don't mind saying she's a right hoor for petrol.'wm.Sc. 1979 Robin Jenkins Fergus Lamont 7:
'Whure' was a word heard often enough in our district, applied to rainy weather, a marble that stopped short of the hole, a quoit that fell in the wrong place, a horse that hadn't won.m.Sc. 1989 Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay The Guid Sisters 10:
A mull-yin ae thum. Ah cannae even coont that far but ah ken it's a hoor ae a loat.Arg. 1992:
It wiz hoora (hoor of a) footerie, stopping an startin a the time wi the lights. [ref to a car journey through Glasgow]Sc. 1994 Herald (18 Nov) 18:
And Jimmy told me all the same that being a baker was "an absolute hoor of a chobb".

II. v. (Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 135.), to use prostitutes; to be or act like a prostitute (also fig.)em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 25:
Mansweirers, murtherers, bevvy-merchants,
An aw that hure and curse and thieve. Edb. 2004:
She hoored her wey tae the top in that job.