A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1499-1512, 1569-1639
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Fle, Flee, v.4 Also: flea. P.t. and p.p. flede, fled, fleed, flead. [ME. fle, flen, OE. fléan. Cf. Fla v., Flay v.] tr. To flay. a1400 Legends of the Saints ix. 316.
Quhare he apone the croice wes down, & bely flawcht flede [L. excoriatus] alsone a1500 Henr. Fab. 2897 (Harl.).
That boucheour … bellie flaucht full fettillie thame fled [: gled, outred] c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyt. 126 (M).
He that Bartilmo fled [: gled] 1569-73 Bann. Mem. 64.
First, thai fleed [v.r. fled] the scheip 1595 Duncan App. Etym.
Deglubo, excorio, to flea the skinne 1639 Glasgow B. Rec. I. 403.
Quhen they flee thair scheip they leive the substance … of the skine on the bouk
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"Fle v.4". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/fle_v_4>
