Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SOCK, n.1 Also soke, sok (Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 301). A ploughshare (n., s.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D., Abd. 1910; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson). Gen.Sc. Also in n. Eng. agric. usage. [sok]Ork. 1734 P. Ork. A.S. (1923) 65:
Six Coulters and one Sock, and two Culters and four Socks.Sc. 1762 A. Dickson Treatise Agric. 147:
This part of the plough is of one piece with the soke and is called the plough-share.m.Lth. 1793 G. Robertson Agric. M. Lth. 89:
The culter is removed altogether, its office being performed by a feather projecting ten or twelve inches upward from the land side of the sock.Dmf. 1812 W. Singer Agric. Dmf. 127:
At a period not very remote there was hardly any plough in the country, except what is called the Scots plough, made of wood, and long pointed sock.Sc. 1822 Scott Pirate xv.:
The sock, and the heel, and the sole-clout of a real steady Scottish pleugh.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) III. 173:
To be married is nothing; a light soke is easily worn, and a light yoke is easily borne.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 70:
Where the scythe cuts, and the sock rives.Lnk. 1888 R. Young Love at Plough 28:
You want yer sock an' coulter baith relaid.Fif. 1939 St Andrews Cit. (11 Feb.) 4:
Look at the sock; the feather is no high enough for that land.Abd. 1951 Buchan Observer (20 Feb.):
The sock was still the share or sock, and it bore its fedder, or feather.
Phr. and combs.: 1. sock and s(c)ythe, ploughing and reaping; 2. sock-mandrill, a cast of a plough-head, used for making a new share (Rxb. 1825 Jam.); †3. sock-neb, the point of the ploughshare (Per. 1904 E.D.D.); 4. sock-plate, see quot.; 5. sock-sided furrow, a furrow cut by too narrow a sock and hence lying too upright (Fif. 1971); 6. sock-spade, a spade for taking stones which obstruct the progress of the sock out of ploughed land (Fif., Lth., wm.Sc. 1971).1. Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 26:
I was fit for baith sock and sythe; rid han'd, nae wark cam wrang to me.3. Knr. 1886 H. Haliburton Horace 85:
What's wantit wi' the sock-neb here?4. Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 415:
The share is always formed from a plate forged for the express purpose at the iron-mills, and known in the trade by the term sock-plate.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxvii.:
As though the smith had scaum't it wi' that reid-het sock plate.5. Fif. 1939 St Andrews Citizen (11 Feb.) 4:
If his irons were a wee bit wider, it would tak' awa' the sock-sided furrow.
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"Sock n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 12 Dec 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sock_n1>