Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1731, 1828-1866, 1949
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DEBOSH, Debush, v., n., adj. Sc. forms of Eng. debauch. [də′bɔʃ]
1. v. In Eng. senses found only in ppl.adj. (Sc. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth iv., deboshed; Bnff.2, Abd.2, Fif.10 (deboshed) 1940; Slg.3 c.1900; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 165, debushed). Also found in intr. (orig. refl.) sense of "to indulge one's self in the use of any thing to excess; as tea, snuff, etc." (Sc. 1825 Jam.2, debosh); gen. used with wi(th) (Ib.) or upon (Abd. Ib., debush); obs. In this sense debauch has been obs. in Eng. since early 18th cent.Abd. 1731 in Sc. N. and Q. (Jan. 1935) 12:
I would much sooner send him to the plantations . . . then . . . keep about me a meenspirited deboshed Duruken beast of a son.
2. n.
(1) = Eng. debauch, (a bout of) excessive indulgence (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 37; Bnff.2 1940; Abd. 1825 Jam.2).Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) xv.:
I have been at the expense of a cart-hire and a horse's up-putting, let alone Tammie's debosh and my own.
‡(2) "Extravagance; waste" (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 37).Abd. 1949 Huntly Express (25 Feb.):
The writer's parents would have called such land extravagance "a real debush."
†(3) A person who is intemperate in any way (Abd. 1825 Jam.2), a debauchee. Obs. in Eng., last quot. in N.E.D. 1719.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 37:
He's naething bit a debosh wee smokan; the cutty's niver oot o's cheek.
3. adj. Drunk (Mry.1 1925, debosh).
[Debosh(ed) and debaushed are found in Eng. as early forms (16th and 17th cent.) of debauch(ed), but deboshed became obs. in Eng. before the middle of 17th cent.; it was revived by Scott and was frequent in literary Eng. of 19th cent. with a somewhat vaguer sense than debauched.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Debosh v., n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/debosh>
