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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WHID, n.², v.² Also whud (Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 303). [ʍid]

I. n. A lie, exaggeration, fib (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Slg., Lth., Lnk., Kcb. 1974), “a falsehood of a less direct kind” (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Hence whidder, a big lie, cf. Eng. schoolboy slang whopper.Ayr. 1785 Burns Death & Dr Hornbook i.:
Ev'n ministers they hae been kenn'd, In holy rapture, A rousing whid, at times, to vend.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 50:
And mony a fish he's killed and ta'en Without a whid.Gsw. 1868 J. Young Poems 162:
I never heard him tellin' whids.Clc. 1882 J. Walker Poems 123:
But Truth still hopes, for honest conscience' sake, That windy whids auld Markinch shall forsake.Kcb. 1893 Crockett Raiders xlvi.:
Kennedy thinks no more o' tellin' a whud than o' slappin' a cleg that nips him on the hench bane.e.Lth. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle 23:
I speak nae whuds — Come doun an' see its curst effeks yersel'.Slg. 1935 W. D. Cocker Further Poems 86:
Wee bit whids whiles keep folks ceevil.

II. v. To lie, to tell fibs (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 473, whud; Slg., Lth., Lnk., Kcb. 1974); “implying that the person rather equivocates than tells an absolute falsehood” (Sc. 1825 Jam.).Gall. 1881 L. B. Walford Dick Netherby v.:
Whan I see a fair-farrend whuddin' youngster coming that gait ower me an' my bairn.Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 90:
Whiddin's an airt: ye tak' your aith.Kcb. 1897 T. Murray Frae the Heather 64:
Sae I hae little houp thou wilt dwinnel, But onward rail, meddle, and whud.