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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

†BY-SLEEVE, n. comb. Lit. an oversleeve. Used fig. in quot. = a dependent, a hanger-on, a nonentity.Fif. 1715 John, Master of Sinclair Memoirs Insurr. Scot. (1858) 234:
For Linlithgow was but a by-sleeve, and only followed implicitlie, without either designe or judgement.

[O.Sc. by-sleve, an additional sleeve on a garment, 1599 (D.O.S.T.).]

5315

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