A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1614-1687
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1]
Handy-grips, Handiegripp(i)s, n. pl. [Grip n.; altered f. e.m.E. handye grypes (1542), var. of handgripes.] Handgrips, close combat. — 1614 Inverness Rec. 120.
That they ȝeid in handie grippis 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 219.
But certainly my light is dim when it cometh to handy-grips 1649 Misc. Spald. C. V. 230. 1687 Ib. 237.
That he saw them both at the ground in handie gripps 1676 Forbes Baron Ct. 301.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Handy-grips n. pl.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/handy_grips>
