Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1894-1950
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SKITTER, v.2 Also skeetir. To slither, slip in a jerky awkward manner (Abd., Ags. 1970). Also in Eng. dial. Used adv. in comb. ¶skitter foosh, to indicate onomat. a slithering flopping squelching sound.Sh. 1894 Williamson MSS. (17 April):
As he guid ower da brig he skeetird tree or fower times.Kcd. 1933 L. G. Gibbon Cloud Howe (1937) 87:
The hammer went skittering out from his hand.Bnff. 1950 N. Paterson Behold Thy Daughter 156:
They fell in their dozens, to left and right and all around you, dumpity dump and skitter foosh, some slopping soft as willows over the pews, some crashing clean and hard like well-sawn trees.
