A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Maw, Mawe, n.1 [ME. maghe, maugh, maw(e, e.m.E. maw(e, OE. maᵹa wk. masc.]
a. ? Only as an undignified or coarse term, proverbially or jocularly: The ‘belly’ or stomach of a person. b. (Recorded only in Douglas): The belly or stomach of an animal.(1) a1400 Leg. S. vii. 654.
Ful harde is hungyre in hale maw c1420 Wynt. ii. 200.
Esawe … hym thowcht it ane harde thrawe Hungyr than in tyll hale mawe a1500 Henr. Orph. 181 (Ch. & M.).
A grisely gripe … wyth his bill his bally throu can bore, Bath maw, mydred [etc.] … He ruggit out Id. III. 151/27.
Ane medecyne for the maw 1513 Doug. vi. ix. 136. a1605 Montg. Flyt. 305 (T).
The mischief on thy melt & maw a1598 Ferg. Prov. No. 370. a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 651. —1650 Maxwell Mem. I. 355 (see Maw-turning). —a1689 Cleland 104/5.
Any that saw this strange deport Perceiv'd his maw to hink and jarr(2) 1513 Doug. ii. vi. 110.
Ravenus wolffis … Quham the blynd fury of thar empty mawis Dryvis furth of thar den Ib. vii. 69.
[Some Greeks] for schaymfull cowartyce Clam vp agane in the gret horssis maw Ib. x. xii. 89.
