Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1812, 1871-1937, 1991
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1]
SPERFLE, v. Pa.ppl. forms spelfert, ¶sperfalt. [′spɛrfl]
1. To scatter, disperse, divide up (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Now only in liter. use. Also ppl.adj. sperflin. Sc. 1812 The Scotchman 65:
War my land spelfert, it wad gang frae the family.Sc. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms cvi. 27:
Till ding their seed by, amang folk; an' till sperfle them clean owre the kintras.Sc. 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ iii. xlviii.:
Sen' furth yer fire-flaught an' sperfle thame.Sc. 1937 Oor Mither Tongue (MacWhannell) 89:
My family's sperfled far an' wide.Sc. 1991 T. S. Law in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 31:
that sweels aroond him lik the groo scaum
o the sperflin stoor
as the heavie ammo buits plowter the saund attoore.
2. To scatter wastefully, squander money, goods, etc. (Lth., Ayr. 1825 Jam.; Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 328; Arg. 1882 Argyllshire Herald (3 June), sperfalt).Gsw. 1922 Glasgow Herald (15 April):
The improvident happy-go-lucky who “sperfled” his good.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Sperfle v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sperfle>
