Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1833-1869, 1949
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NIDGE, v., n.
I. v. To dress a building stone roughly by picking with a sharp-pointed hammer. Gen.Sc. Vbl.n. nidging, ppl.adj. nidged.Sc. 1842 J. Gwilt Architecture 519, 1008:
In Aberdeen, where the stone is very hard, being a granite, they use the scabbling hammer, by which they pick the stone until the surface has nearly acquired the requisite form. This sort of work is called nidged-work, and the operation nidging. . . . Nidged Ashlar, a species of ashlar used in Aberdeen. It is brought to the square by means of a cavil or hammer with a sharp point.Sc. 1869 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 394:
Nidging is a mode of dressing used chiefly for granite, but sometimes also applied to other stones.Abd. 1949 W. Diack Granite Industry 80:
The setts shall be finely nidged, axed, punched, or otherwise dressed on head or exposed surface, showing little more than daylight when a straight-edge is applied to the surface in any direction.
II. n. The hammer stroke used in nidging.Ayr. 1833 J. Cairnie Curling 2 Note:
Neither ice, nor clod-iced blocks would have stood the nidge of an Ayrshire hammer.
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"Nidge v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 3 May 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/nidge>
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