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: 1721-1929
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‡DIT, Ditt, Dyt, v.1
1. To shut up, to close, gen. used of the mouth (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Mry.1 1925; Bnff.2 1940; Abd.7 1925; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Pa.p. †ditt, ditted. Sometimes used with up.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 89:
Ditt your Mouth with your Meat.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 356:
When all's in, and the Slap ditt, rise Herd and lat the Dogs sit.Sc. 1724–27 Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1762) 155:
Daft carl, dit your mouth.Abd. 1787 A. Shirrefs Jamie and Bess Act II. Sc. ii.:
For gentle blades, wha have a fouth o' cash To dit fouks mou's ne'er meet wi' ony fash.Ags. 1776 C. Keith Farmer's Ha' x.:
For o'en white bread dits ilka mou' That stays the-ben.Ayr. a.1878 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage, etc., and Poems (1892) 308:
To swankies free an' funny, Dit nae up your lug.Kcb. 1815 J. Gerrond Works 124:
Now, dit your gabs, ye taunting set.Slk. 1829 Hogg Shepherd's Cal. II. 12:
But there's ae good thing about the auld Tod's house, — they never ditt up their windows. Ane sees aye what's gaun on within doors.
2. To obstruct (the course of) (Bnff.2 1940); also used with up.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxx.:
Lays his broad black loof on my mouth and dits up my gude words.Bnff.6 c.1915:
Tak that big flooer oot o' the winda; it's dittin the licht.Abd.6 1926:
Dinna dit the licht on him.Ayr. 1862 J. Baxter The Kirn, etc. 77:
That I had ditted up the view O' Robbie's monument.
3. (1) tr. To darken, dim (Bnff.9 c.1927; Abd.6 1913; Abd.19 1930; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Also erroneous form dirt (Watson).Sc. 1824 R. K. Douglas Poems 20:
Nae tell-tale fool daur dyt my door, Or faith he'd trudge the winnock o'er!Abd. 1844 W. Thom Rhymes and Recoll. 171:
Nor Gadie's stream would dit yon gleam That wraps his dwallin' now.Abd. 1923 R. L. Cassie Heid or Hert iv.:
Nae a clood dits the clear, dark blueness o' the lift.Abd.1 1929:
That tree dits the sitting-room window.Kcb.4 c.1900:
Ae woman says to anither. "I'll ne'er ditt yer door again."
(2) intr. Of the sun: (a) to sink, to be low in the sky (Bnff.12 1850); (b) to go behind a cloud (Id.).
[O.Sc. has dit(t), dyt, in sense 1. above from 1375; Mid.Eng. dütten. ditten, O.E. dyttan, to shut (the ears), stop (the mouth).]
