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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FIGMALEERY, n. Also figmaleerie, -lirie.

1. A whim, fancy, crotchet.Sc. 1730 Ramsay Poems (1800) II. 496:
But Bess the whig, a raving rump, Took figmaliries, and wald jump.

2. A fancy ornament or trimming (Abd.27, Fif.10 1945). Also attrib.Edb. 1882 J. Smith Hum. Sc. Stories 14:
Ye'll pit on yer sou-backit mutch . . . and yer grand figmaleery bannit.
Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 32:
And as for Jenny buyin' silk And furs and figmalerie.

[A variant of Whigmaleerie.]

11133

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