Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
GORE, v., n. Also gurr, †gaur. †gaar. Sc. usages of Eng. gore, to pierce or stab deeply. [gor, gɔr, gʌr]
I. v. 1. “To scratch, seam, or cut into” (w.Sc. 1887 Jam.), to gore.Ib.:
His arms are gaur'd yet wi' the beast's claws.
†2. With furrow: to split a ridge by means of a gore-furrow (see n., 2).Sc. 1778 A. Wight Husbandry I. 250:
Supposing the ridges to have been made seven feet broad. They must be now cleaved and gore-furrowed; which will split each ridge into two.
3. To plough deeply, to cut the soil.Abd. 1875 W. Alexander My Ain Folk 4:
In some bit of loose stubble land the “loons” might be trusted to gore away as they listed without fear of damage.
II. n. 1. “A scratch, seam, or cut made by drawing a sharp point over a smooth surface” (w.Sc. 1887 Jam.).
2. A deep furrow (‡Abd. 27 1955), see quots. Also †gore-furrow: also in w.Yks. dial.Lth. 1765 A. Dickson Agriculture 324:
The furrow which the plough makes going in the track of the old furrow, betwixt the earths of the furrow on each side, is called a gore-furrow.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 472:
A gore-furrow is a space made to prevent the meeting of two ridges, and as a substitute for an open furrow between them.Mry. 1858 G. Mann Poems 9:
And made right gores, awat ye'll see the furs.
3. In phr. to gie a ploo gurr, to tilt the sock of the plough downwards so that the furrow is cut deeper and at a slant (Bnff., Abd. 1955). Hence used jocularly of a cap set at a jaunty or defiant angle (Mearns 6 1955, gurr).Abd. 1950 per A. Fenton:
It's Geordie, I ken 'im by the gurr o his bonnet.
