A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1699
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Neb, n. Also: nebbe, nebe. [ME. and e.m.E., OE. nębb.]
1. The beak or bill of a bird.a1400 Legends of the Saints xxviii. 598.
Than com a dou … & in the neb brocht a croun c1450-2 Howlat 57.
My neb is netherit as a nok c1450-2 Ib. 207.
He couth wryte … With his neb for mistar Apon the se sand 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. iii. 789.
Fowlis that hingand be thair nebbis grew 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 73/21.
The foulis of the ayr vil deffende ther nestis vitht there nebbis ande feit 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 8477. 1595 Duncan App. Etym.
Rostrum, the nebbe of a fowle 1596 Dalr. I. 27/5.
This fowle may be seine with neb and feit of purpur hew 1639 Sc. Ant. III. 134. 1665 Inv. Pictures in Clerk of Penicuik MSS. (Reg. H.) 6 (1 Jan.).
Ane qayle holding a croun in his neb 16.. Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. III. 235.
Kittiwaikes … with claws and nebs, carry home mire and moss
2. transf. a. A ‘beak’ of a fish.1684 Erskine Diary 98.
A great abundance of fishes … having a neb out from their head about two inches long
b. The nose or ‘snout’ of a person.a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1003.
I sall thraw your neb ane other way
3. The end or tip of any of the protruding or protrusible parts of a person's body, as fingers, toes, nose or tongue.1590–1 Criminal Trials I. 237.
The twa nebbis of the fingaris meting togidder 1600-1610 Melvill 82.
A tuft upon the verie neb of his nease a1599 Rollock Wks. II. 611.
Not from the teeth forward and neb of the tongue only 1638 Henderson Serm. 273.
One drop but of cold water to cool the neb of his tongue 1662 Criminal Trials III. 609.
Owt of the head … owt of the thieghes, fra the pointis of the fingeris to the nebes of the toes
