Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1753-1793, 1866-1928
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CHATTER, v.2 and n.2 Also shatter. [′tʃɑtər]
1. v. (1) To bruise (Bnff.2 1939).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 218:
He chattert's finger atween twa stanes.
(2) To nibble, fray, tatter; "to make (cloth, grass, etc.) ragged, as by fraying, nibbling, or cutting or clipping with a blunt instrument" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Known to Bnff.2, Abd.9 1939. Ppl.adj. chattert, chattered, eaten away, tattered. Also shatter'd (perhaps influenced by Eng. shatter, to break in pieces).Abd. 1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 173:
Sae anes mair blaw throw my chattr'd reed.Bch. 1928 (per Abd.15):
The shaives wis geylies chattert wi' mice an' rottens.Per. c.1753 A. G. Reid Auchterarder (1899) 273:
Copied from a Shatter'd Paper of D. Robertson, late of Strowan.Gall. 1896 J. Shaw in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 49:
Next morning he returned to the spot to discover that his plaid was pretty much eaten, or, as the old lady said "chattered."Slk. 1793 in T. Craig Brown Hist. Selkirkshire (1886) II. 216:
A new ribbon round the edges [of a mortcloth] in place of the old chattered fringes.
2. n. "A bruise" (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 218). Not known to our correspondents.
[A frequentative form of Chat, v.2, q.v. Some of the senses however might belong rather to Chatter, v.1]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Chatter v.2, n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/chatter_v2_n2>
