Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1886
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SCRABE, n. Also scraib; scraber.
1. The Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus (Hebr. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 212).Sc. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 781:
Scraib and Scraber are also used [for the Shearwater] in Scotland.
2. The black guillemot, Uria grylle (w.Sc. 1698 M. Martin St Kilda 58). This usage was later current for a time among some zoologists (Sc. 1847 Bass Rock 396).
[The form fluctuates between scrabe and scraber, the first from Scand., e.g. Faer. skrápur, the shearwater, Dan. skraape, appar. imit. of its cry, the second from the Gael. borrowed form sgrabair.]
