Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

AJEE, AGEE, adv., pred. adj. [ə′dʒi:]

1. To one side, aside, off the straight. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1718 Ramsay Chr. Kirk iii (Poems 1721) vii.:
[She] Dung a' her Cockernonny A jee that Day.Fif. 1994 Nellie Watson in Joan Watson Memories and Reflections: An East Neuk Anthology 13:
They baith wid tell ye what was richt,
And ne'er tae tell a lee,
They walked the 'straight and narrow way'.
And never gaed agee.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller of Deanhaugh 30–31:
His little head was thrown ajee.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xix.:
I was . . . constrained to loot [bow] a sort a-jee.

2. (Of a door, etc.) Ajar, partly open. Gen.Sc.Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 44:
Weill, ye can lave the casement o the muckle chaumer winnock ajee an the muin'll shine in owre.Knr. 1886 “H. Haliburton” Horace in Homespun 104:
An' Geordie wi' his jaws ajee A ballant roarin'!Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller of Deanhaugh 21:
Ye'd better wait till the yett's ajee.Ayr. 1793 Burns Whistle and I'll, etc. i.:
Come nae unless the back-yett be a-jee.w.Dmf. 1908 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo (2nd ed.) 25–26:
There wasna . . . a lum reekin, or a door agee.

3. fig. Aside, off the straight; in or into a disturbed or disordered state, esp. “applied to the mind, as expressive of some degree of derangement” (Jam.²); tipsy. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1733 in Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1762) 32:
Let ne'er a new whim ding thy fancy a jee.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxxvii.:
His brain was awee agee, but he was a braw preacher for a' that.Sc. 1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods, The Maker to Posterity i.:
When a' we think, an' a' we see, An' a' we luve, 's been dung ajee By time's rouch shouther.Bnff. 1905 J. Goodsman Macduff in Bnffsh. Jnl. (28 Mar.) 13:
The railin' roun' the harbour quay Keeps folk frae droonin' when agee.Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 138:
There's naethin sets the jidgment ajee like the thocht o' oor ain interests bein affeckit.Uls. 1898 A. McIlroy The Auld Meetin'-Hoose Green iii.:
Their theology, a'm telt, is a' agee.