Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1746, 1808-1856, 1923-1934
[0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
BLEACH, BLEECH, BLEETCH, v. and n. [blitʃ]
1. v., tr. and intr.
(1) tr. “To strike; to beat” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 217).Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 20:
But L — d, O L — d, thee I beseech, In fervent prayer, Mine an' thine enemies to bleech, Wi' ruthless ire.Abd.2 1934
Hence, (a) bleacher, n., “a severe stroke” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 217); (b) bleachin', vbl.n., a thrashing.(b) Kcb.1 1934:
I gied him a guid bleachin', onywey.
(2) intr. To fall flat.Bnff.9 c.1927:
He bleached back on his hands and feet on the carpet.Lth. 1808 Jam.:
To Bleach down, or along. To fall flat to the ground.
2. n.
(1) A blow, a stroke.Abd. 1746 W. Forbes Dominie Deposed in John Cheap, The Chapman's Library (1877) 6:
He [Bacchus] drown'd a' my cares to preach, Wi' his ma't-bree, I've wore sair banes by mony a bleech O' his tap-tree.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Popular Rhymes 85:
Hit it a bleech, Tam Fish.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 75:
bleech, a stroke.nn.Rxb., centr.Rxb., s.Rxb. x1923 Watson W.-B.:
bleach, a blowRxb. 1815 J. Ruickbie Poems 119:
But wisely judged by martial bleetch To fleg the congregation Frae sin that day.
(2) A fall.Lth. 1808 Jam.:
Bleach is also used to denote a fall of this description [i.e. flat on the ground].
(3) Used adverbially. Violently.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) v.:
She . . . gave him such a kick and a push, that he played bleach over, head foremost, without being able to recover himself.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bleach v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bleach>
