A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475, 1538-1673
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Clip, Clyp, n. [f. Clip,v.2 Also e.m.E. (1559).]
1. A device for seizing or grasping; a grappling hook, etc. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace x. 855.
Athir othir festynyt with clippys keyn 1538 Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries II. 403.
Mr Dawe Borthwick, Capitane of Tantallan, borrowit fra the towne of Hadingtone … a pair of clipis, a baike, a great towe c1550 Lynd. Meldrum 744.
Be this, thegyder straik the shippis, And ather on vther laid thair clippis 1565 Inverness B. Rec. I. 120.
Tha brak the kist in the vattyr wark, and tuk out of it the fysche … and ane clyp of irne c 1614 Rep. Hist. MSS. I. 138.
Two fyne gilt swordis withe fyne wellvet skabertis and guid clipis
2. pl. (Usu. a pair of clippis.) A device for lifting a pot. Cf. Pot-clippis.‘It consists of two pieces of iron, of an elliptic form, conjoined; or of two chains, each having a hook at the end’ (J). 1621 Edinburgh Testaments LI. 134 b.
Ane cruike, ane speit and ane pair of clipis 1623 Peebles Gleanings 16.
Ane pan, ane pair of clippis, ane cruik 1671 Wodrow MSS. 4to. XXXVII. No. 7.
The[y] left nether pat nor can, cruke nor tongs, … nor clips for the pote 1673 Melrose R. Rec. II. 356.
Ane standing bed, ane pott and clipps, tua kists
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"Clip n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/clip_n>
