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 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PILK, v., n.¹ Also pilke, peilk; pijlk (Angus). [pɪlk, pəilk]

I. v. 1. To pick out, shell, husk, peel (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), 1914 Angus Gl.; Abd. 1930; Sh. 1965); to pluck, pull off or up (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 172, peilk); of a fish: to remove from the hook with a palate-stick or the like, to pluck out of the water with a jerk (Jak.). Phr. to pilk a pooch, to pick a pocket. Cf. 2.Ags. 1702 Kirk Sess. Rec. Dundee (2 March):
Sitting under stares pilking wilks.Sc. 1736 Mrs. McLintock Receipts 22, 25:
Take large Gooseberries, pilk them carefully. . . . To make Syrup of Violets. Pilk the Violets off the Stalks.Sc. 1827 G. R. Kinloch Ballads 28:
For monie a day, my minnie and me Hae pilkit at your [a nettle's] pow.Cai. 1829 J. Hay Poems 14:
They'll doubly at the oysters pilk, Wi' glorious treat.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxiv.:
He had not only pilkit my pouch o' four an' saxpence, but had also sent me on a gowk's errand.Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 13:
Ye'll pilk up da sillicks laek stour, an' your büddie is fu' in twa claps o' a lamb's tail.Jak.:
To pilk limpets, pilk taatis. To pilk op fish.Abd.⁴ 1930:
“Pilk the piz” — take the peas from the pod.

2. tr. or intr. and absol. To pilfer, pocket, “lift”; to indulge in petty theft (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 172; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1965); to rob. Ppl.adj. pilkin, thievish, dishonest.Lth. 1791 R. Cumming Poems 135:
For mere trash, they aft your pouches pilk.Per. 1871 Per. Constitut. Jnl. (28 Aug.):
His wife's relations cam an' pilkit a' they could get when her father deed.Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 15, 54:
An' files a moufu', o' the sly, I [a dog] pilk fae cat an' hen. . . . A pilkin' crew 'at sorns on them they rob.Fif. 1933:
When a fish takes the bait off a hook without getting caught, a St. Andrews fisher-lad on pulling up his line, will exclaim “Ah'm pilkit”.

3. To milk (a cow, etc.) down to the last drops, to strip of milk. Vbl.n. pilkin(g)s, the last drops of milk in a cow's udder, the strippings (Fif. 1869 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 725). Deriv. pilkie, adj., of a cow: difficult to milk; also as n., a restless, uncooperative cow (Wgt. 1965).Gall. 1828 W. McDowall Poems 21:
Hawkie's calf yestreen broke by, An' has its mither pilked.

4. To finger, feel, handle, touch (Sh. 1965); to tickle.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
To pilk aboot som'tin', to finger something.

5. To strike smartly, beat (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1965); to aim, deliver (a blow). Vbl.n. pilkin, a thrashing, beating (Ib.).Jak.:
He pilked de sten i' de side o' his head.

6. To catch fish with a pilk, see II. 2. (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1965).

II. n. 1. A husk, an empty shell; a picking, morsel, scrap (Sh. 1965).Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS. vi.:
There wis antrin pilks amo' the strae.Sh. 1949 New Shetlander No. 19. 43:
If he kent o' da neebors' kye aetin a pilke o' girse aff o' him, he wid roar an' flyte till ye could hear him ower a' da toon.

2. A rod with a hook on the end for catching fish or lifting them out of the water, a gaff (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)).

3. A thrashing, beating (Id.).