A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1513, 1584-1628
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Pik(k)ill, v.1 Also: piki-, pykl-. [Late ME. pykel- (Prompt. Parv.), pickle (1591) (tr.) pick clean, (intr. and tr.) eat sparingly or delicately. In this sense, also in the later Sc. and north. Eng. dials.] To peck, nibble; to eat sparingly or a little at a time. a. tr. b. intr. or absol. — 1513 Doug. xii. Prol. 158.
Phebus red fowle … Pykland [Ruddim. pikland] his meyt in alleis quhar he went — a1585 Polwart Flyt. 755 (T).
Lik quhair I laid and pikill of that py a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1242.
Pikill in your awin poke nuke a1628 Ib. No. 1803.
Ye have not pikilled on your awin poke nuke yet
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"Pikill v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pikkill_v>
