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.
SLOT, n.1, v.1 Also slott, †slote. [slot]
I. n. 1. The bar or bolt mechanism of a door, window or the like (Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) Gl., slote, 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Ork., Cai., Mry., Bnff., Ags., Fif., Lnk., Wgt., Rxb. 1970). Also in Eng. dial. since 17th c.m.Lth. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 18:
And tirling ay saft at the pin, Till quite owrecome, we draw the slot.Ayr. 1855 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage (1892) 243:
Our Cadger sae sly slippit in Syne cannilie shot in the muckle door slot.Dmb. 1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 87:
We'll kep the slot before he get it in.Clc. 1874 J. Crawford Mem. Alloa 76:
He drew the slot [of a door], an' in the stranger passed.Edb. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar 217:
The yett was steeked and the slot drawn.
2. One of the lighter cross-pieces in the framework of a harrow, gen. mortised through the heavier bulls (Sc. 1808 Jam.); a cross-piece in the bottom of a cart (Cai., Kcb. 1970); a cross-piece or bar of wood in gen. Comb. stay-slot, the diagonal stay in a hurdle or gate; the uprights on the sides of a box-cart (see 1825 quot.).m.Lth. 1793 G. Robertson Agric. M. Lth. 44:
The Harrow . . . is commonly made of four bulls connected by four slots.Dmb. 1794 D. Ure Agric. Dmb. 42:
An ordinary single horse waggon . . . is four feet in breadth, within the copes or sides, which are twenty-one inches deep, and consist of twelve pins and slotts.Lnk. 1825 Jam.:
Slots in a cart are not only the long cross spars, as in a harrow, but also the short upright bars which support the Shelments, and to which the boards, called the Cleeding, are nailed. They are distinguished from Rungs, as being square, whereas rungs are round.Sc. 1858 H. Stephens Farm Implements 523:
The hurdle consists of two heads, six slots, two stay-slots, and one upright.
II. v. 1. To secure a door, window or the like by means of a bolt or bar, to lock, bolt (a door) (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Cai., Mry., Bnff., Ags., Fif., Lnk., sm.Sc. 1970). Also in Eng. dial.m.Lth. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 18:
Whan they see The door, tho' slotted, budge a wee.Sc. 1825 Writer's Clerk III. 126:
If ye dinna want to be disturbed, slot the door behint you.
†2. To mortise slots in a harrow. See I. 2. Vbl.n. slotting.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 689:
There is no slotting, as in the common harrow, but the bulls and bars are simply crossed.
