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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLASH, KLASH, v., tr. and intr. Used as in St.Eng., but note the following extensions peculiar to Sc. Pa.t. in Sc. clashed, clash't, cluish. [klɑʃ; pa.t. klɑʃt, klyʃ]

1. tr.

(1) To strike, to slap (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰, Edb.¹, Kcb.⁹ 1937). Vbl.n. clashin, a drubbing.Ork. 1952 R. T. Johnston Stenwick Days (1984) 30:
"Id's a geud chob," he said, "that thoo didno call me be me first neem, or I wid hiv clashed thee on the mooth wi' me staff. ... "Fif., Lth. 1825 Jam.²:
I'll clash your chafts for you.Lnk. 1902 A. Wardrop Hamely Sketches 10:
I'm obleeged tae use . . . endearin' epithets . . . in case I get my jaws clashed.Dmf. 1817 W. Caesar Poems 96:
Od man, I'm in an unco passion At my auld son' First time wi' [sic] meet, he's get a clashin.Uls. c.1920 J. Logan Uls. in the X-Rays (2nd ed.) vi.:
Keep quiet or I'll clash your ears.

(2) Specific use: “to slap and work butter in the making with a stick called the klash-tree” (Ork. 1929 Marw.).

Comb.: clashtree, klash- (see quot. above).Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 111:
Leuk gin the butter daffo [tub] fell; — I t'ought I heard the clashtree.

(3) To slam (a door). Gen.Sc.Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 50:
The gaird was clashin' the doors, and the engine was snortin' for breath.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 68:
She gaed in the hoose, clashing the door in her face.

(4) To throw anything forcefully, esp. anything wet or liquid, “to throw mud or water” (Ayr.⁴ 1928); to deposit noisily; also tr. to repair by throwing wet mortar into joints and crevices (Sc. 1825 Jam., clash up; Wgt. 1975, to clash a dyke). Gen.Sc.Sc. 1831 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 95:
Or ye had never clashed doun on that spat thae creeshy crampets.Rnf. a.1814 A. Wilson Poems (1876) II. 65:
But justice dignifies their door, And gen'rously, they clash us The clink each day.Gsw. 1744 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1911) 179:
Many windows clashed with lyme and pieces of slates and wadges of timber for holding in the glass.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
She clash't the buik at 'im.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) II. 297:
Clash on, jades! clash on the water — dinna spare the auld crockadale.

(5) “To hoe turnips the second time” (Ork. 1929 Marw., klash).

2. intr.

(1) To fall with a crash or a splash — often used of rain (Ork., Bnff., Dmf. 2000s); cf. Eng. clash, the sound of heavy rain, 1817 (N.E.D.). Gen.Sc.Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 121:
An clashan' i' the rinner hol' Sheu tumbled tapsalteerie.Abd. 1993:
Cry clash on e fleer.Ags. 1884 Arbroath Guide (19 April) 4/2:
He staggers inbye, clashes doon on the chair.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 131:
The rain and hail clashed and skelpit doon in torrents.

Ppl.adj. clashing, soaking, dripping. Also phr. clashin' wat, “drenched to the skin” (Ayr.⁴ 1928). Cf. Clash, n.¹, 2, phr.Peb. 1838 W. Welsh Poems 32:
My very sark is clashin.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 217:
Wi' waefu' heart, before it sank, I haul't it out a' clashing.

(2) To tell tales, gossip, talk idly, “to divulge a secret” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gt., klash). Often with aboot or o'; cf. Clype, v.¹ Gen.Sc. Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems II. 68:
But laigh my Qualities I bring, To stand up clashing with a Thing, A creeping Thing, the like of thee.Cai. 1896 J. Horne Canny Countryside 90:
Fowks'll clash terribly aboot sich on-goins.Ags. 1920 A. Gray Songs and Ballads 41:
O, mony a lass has socht my airms Because fowk clashed o' me.wm.Sc. 1987 Anna Blair Scottish Tales (1990) 101:
'Too much heed,' she thought, 'too much heed I'm paying to what these clashing women say about this being the hour that kirkyards yawn. ... ' wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 186:
'Look-you at her muckle great mooth ... like my ain Meg's,' chuckled McKim, glancing round sheepishly to see that she was safely clashing with the other women, well out of earshot.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums 110:
Ane o' the veriest guid for naething silly clashers that ever cluish.Dmf. 1988 W. A. D. and D. Riach A Galloway Glossary :
clash 2. to gossip, to chatter.

Used tr.Lnk. 1926 W. Queen We're a' Coortin 54:
We talkit thegither, maybe for ten meenits or sae, and that Jean Clipe saw us — an' ye ken whit that means — it means it's clashed a' ower the place.

Hence clasher, klasher, a tell-tale, gossip (Bnff.², Lnl.¹ 1937); “a noisy talkative person” (Sh., Ork. 1866 Edm. Gl., klasher).Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems, etc. 114:
As tales are never held for fack That clashers tell.

Ppl.adj., vbl.n. clashin(g), a gathering where scandal is talked; gossiping.Sc. 1765 Trial of K. Nairn 52:
The clashing folk of the country.Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 295:
She was na to seek at a clashing.m.Sc. 1979 Donald Campbell in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 66:
Even as a teeny lass
ye tried my birse fu sair.
Sermons are as thowless as
the coorse clashin ye prefer.Fif. 1816 [A Mercer] Craw-Court 22:
Craw-courts ye speak of! -- idle clashin.