Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

KNOBBIE, n. Sc. dim. form of Eng. knob.

1. A wooden button.Cai. 1864 J. T. Calder Caithness (1887) 281:
The men wore coats, vests, and breeches of black or hodden gray, and those who could not conveniently get metal buttons used ones made of wood, which they called “knobbies”.

2. A knoll, a small hill or eminence.m.Sc. 1906 J. A. Harvie-Brown Fauna Tay Basin xxxv.:
Moor of Rannoch, with the great extent of flow-land and gravelly heather-topped “knobbies”.