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: 1817-1834
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†DUMBARTON, n.
1. A kind of great-coat.Peb. 1817 R. Brown Comic Poems 166:
I am doomed to be, till night, Thus rump-shorn as I stan', Wi' my dumbarton yet undight.
2. In comb. Dumbarton youth, a male or female of at least thirty-six years of age, gen. applied to a woman (Sc. 1818 Sawers Dict. Sc. Lang.; 1825 Jam.2).Sc. 1834 Tait's Mag. (Oct.) 600:
I warrant Baby a Dumbarton youth, any way, and that is well known to be six-and-thirty good.Ayr. 1823 Galt Entail vi.:
She had been allowed to reach the discreet years of a Dumbarton youth in unsolicited maidenhood.
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"Dumbarton n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/dumbarton>
