Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SWITHER, v.4, n.4 Also swidder (Sh.). [′swɪðər]
I. v. Of weather: to be very hot, to parch, swelter (Sh., Kcd. 1972). Also in n.Eng. dial. and fig.Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags xxvi.:
On that day of swithering heat.Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song 67:
His ramshackle face all swithering and his eyes all hot and wet.
II. n. 1. A swelter, a scorching state, a great heat (Sh. 1972). Also in n.Eng. dial.Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song 88:
It was ill to cut in a swither of heat.Abd. 1946 J. C. Milne Orra Loon 4:
Swirlin' aroon in a swither o' swite.
2. Also in pl. and in deriv. forms switherel (Ags.), switherum (Fif.): a jelly-fish, Medusa, from its stinging properties (Kcd., em.Sc. 1911; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 269, swithers; Ags. (switherel), Fif. 1972).Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 165:
'Mending nets is just a branch of mathematics,' he said. ... The job itself was certainly an old woman's one though, worsened at this time of year by the swithers - the dried up jellyfish which made the eyes itch and stream unbearably - and requiring the patience of one who had little to live for but eternity.
