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.
SLAB, n.1, v.1
I. n. 1. The first slice cut off a loaf of bread, having one side crusty (em.Sc.(a), w.Lth., Lnk. 1970), an extended use of Eng. slab, the first bark-covered plank sawn from a log, a slice of anything.
2. A thin person with a broad frame, a lanky lad (Bnff., Ags. 1921 T.S.D.C.). Also in deriv. slabber.Abd. 1898 J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant xix.:
A lean slab o' a chiel, wi' a gude lang neb.Bnff. 1970:
A lang slabber o' a chiel.
†3. A nickname for a pupil of Arbroath High School, poss. an extension of 2.Ags. 1887 J. McBain Arbroath 271:
The “slabs” and the “dossies”, as the High School boys and the Parochials were respectively nicknamed.Ags. 1909 P. C. Carragher Arbroath 49:
The “Slabs”, the nickname of the youths of the then High School.
II. v. To embroider (shawls) with leaf motifs (Ayr. 1956).Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 46:
They wrocht baith at e'en and at morn, at the slabbin o' shawls.
