Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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.
Quotation dates: 1895-1985
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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.