Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1786-1825, 1901
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RISK, v.1 Also rusk (Fif.). To make a ripping, tearing sound, as of roots being torn up; to tear at, e.g. hay or straw, pull or tug at, claw (Kcb. 1968). Ppl.adj. ruskit, pulled about, ripped, torn apart.Ayr. 1786 Burns To his Auld Mare xii.:
Till sprittie knowes wad rair't, an' riskit, An' slypet owre.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 410:
The plough rairs and risks in it when ploughing.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
Sic ruskit, bandless graith Wad haud a warld asteer.Fif. 1825 Jam.:
It is often conjoined with a synonymous term, as "ruskin' and clawin'." . . . When a horse tears hay from a stack, he is said to be ruskin' at it.Ayr. 1901 Burns Chronicle 28:
[Risk] is still in use, for we have heard it from the lips of an Ayrshire ploughman to express the "tearing" sound of the plough in turning over lea ground.
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"Risk v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/risk_v1>
