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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GLISK, v., n. [glɪsk]

I. v. 1. tr. & intr. To glance, to take a cursory look (Sh.¹⁰ rare, wm.Sc.¹ 1954); to catch a glimpse of.Sc. 1720 R. Wodrow Corresp. (1843) II. 490:
I have only got time to glisk it over cursorily.Ayr. 1821 Scots Mag. (April) 351:
In glisking owre your letter, a kin' o' nettling ramfeezlement gart a' my heart whiltie-whaltie.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Poems (1865) 63:
She gliskit wi her e'e.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xxxii.:
I came . . . to glisk again through this place.Sc. 1926 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 94:
An' he glisked up at me to see the effect o' his words.Lnk. 1951 G. Rae Howe o' Braefoot 146:
In a singin' bird ye can glisk a likeness to the glory that fills a' heaven.m.Sc. 1986 Tony McManus in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 170:
Glisk them frae yer aidle-pool, the wild geese, the savage,
They're whaur they wish tae be, flyin free owre bens Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 26:
"A'm a richt auld wyfie, gittin," said his mither,
an whan Andrae gliskit, richt aneuch,
the war mair nor a bit o the kerlin about hir: ... Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 25:
Hoosaeiver, here an there, atween the trickery an trasherie o New Age dreidlocks an beads, he glisked genuine Spanish leather-wirkers an Toledo jewelsmiths, like winnin a teet o Yehudi Menuhin amang a squalloch a glee singers.

2 “To give a hasty, transient gleam” (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh.¹⁰ 1954, rare); to flit with ghostly glimmer.Sh. 1892 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 259:
Naethin' faered me, bit ghosts, foregengs, witches, an' hillfolk gliskin' aboot me in a dark nicht.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
If de sun would glisk ut, if only the sun would peep out between the clouds.

II. n. Dims. gliskie, -y.

1. A glance, a cursory look, a peep, a glimpse (Kcb.⁴ 1900; Ayr.⁴ 1928; Ork.¹, Bnff.² 1945; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Sh., Cai., Abd., Per., Slg., Fif., Peb., wm.Sc. 1954), esp. of a glittering object (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).Sc. 1692 A. Pitcairne Assembly (1722) 19:
The malignants, whom they knew by the first Glisk of their faces.Sc. 1716 R. Wodrow Corresp . (1843) II. 164:
I send Prideaux to your father, . . . I was much pleased with the glisk I took of it.Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley lxiv.:
They just got a glisk o' his honour as he gaed into the wood, and banged aff a gun at him.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck iii.:
I begoud to heave 't [stick] up, no to strike them, but just to gi'e them a glisk o' the coming-on that was in't.Sh. 1886 J. Burgess Sk. & Poems 91:
Een o' da Custom-Hoose men wis seen a glisk o' da bag.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders v.:
She . . . had gotten a glisk of the grey thing that louped from Mistress Allison's petticoat.Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle xxxv.:
She had a notion o' the Frenchman frae the first glisk o' him.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood viii.:
I had but a glinsk [sic] of them, before they beat the senses out of me.

2. A gleam, a sparkle, a transitory flash (of light) (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 233; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 56; Ork. 1929 Marw.; ‡Sh.¹⁰, ‡ne.Sc., wm.Sc.¹ 1954); a glance (from the eye). Also in n.Eng. dial. Also deriv. glisker (Sh. a.1836 Jam. MSS. XII. 95).Sc. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (June) 277:
The flocks thickly scattered over the heath, arose, . . . and turned to the ruddying east glisk of returning light.Sc. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance I. xviii.:
I would na gi'e a glisk of thae bonny een of your's for aw the eyes o' the world put thegither.Ags. 1873 D. M. Ogilvy Poems 86:
Ye are bright as the first siller glisk o' the morning.Arg. 1898 N. Munro John Splendid xviii.:
The rapture of his eye infected me like a glisk of the sun.Dmf. 1912 A. Anderson Later Poems 267:
Hills . . . that lift their tappans to the sky An' catch a glisk o' richer licht.Per. 1990 Betsy Whyte Red Rowans and Wild Honey (1991) 45:
Auld Jean was delighted with the strawberries and said with a glisk in her eyes, 'They were worth waiting for.'

Hence glisky, adj., bright, sunny (between dull periods). Also in Cum. dial.Sh. 1948 New Shetlander (Oct.–Nov.) 22:
Last ook he cam twartree glisky starts, an I gets my scaur up inta muckle koles, an dan cerried ta da yard.

3. Fig. uses: (1) A moment, a twinkling, a short space of time (Sh.¹⁰ rare, Peb., wm.Sc.¹ 1954).Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 172:
Red ein, wi' plooks owr niz an' mou', Wi' maw owrcoupin' like to sp — Maist ilka glisky.Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 33:
If ye wid just bide a glisk whaur ye ir, I wid rin hame for a sark o' my midder's.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. xxiii.:
Hoo mony hae been begunkit, an' hae been clippit awa' frae the boul in a glisk!Ork. 1929 Marw.:
Come oot wi' me for a glisk.em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 117:
'He finds it' - he coughed - 'a pool less choked with the persecuted brethren than here. He's a muckle fish and needs mair space to swim in. Although I believe he would be back in a glisk were Mr Hog's place to become vacant.'

(2) Applied to anything slight in character or of short duration (Sh.¹⁰ rare, wm.Sc.¹ 1954), e.g. a momentary sensation of pain or pleasure; a short spell, a brief quick movement; a whiff.Lnk. 1827 J. Watt Poems 78:
Baith high an' low get but a glisk [of pure happiness], While clad wi' human nature.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 46:
It wasna till a meenit or twa afore the end cam' that a glisk o' reason cam' back.Edb. 1892 J. W. M'Laren Poems 33:
The glisk o' a smile sune displaced the wild stare.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xviii.:
In the midst of the disgust that commonly overflowed my spirits I had a glisk of pleasure.Sc. 1910 D. G. Mitchell Sermons 61:
A glisk o' the dank air frae the deid mirk dale crap owre them.

Phr.: a glisk(y) o' cauld, a “touch” of cold, a slight cold (Fif. 1825 Jam., 1916 G. Blaik Rustic Rhymes 167; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ags., Per., Slg., Fif., Rxb. 1954). Cf. Gliff, n., 2. (4), Glint, n., 3. (2).Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 26:
My blude's unco thin, I'm frail, frail, an' auld, An' canna e'en thole a wee glisk o' cauld.Fif. 1895 “G. Setoun” Sunshine & Haar 243:
I'm doubtin' I've gotten a glisk o' cauld.

†(3) A fright, scare. Cf. Gliff, n., 3., id.Rnf. 1876 D. Gilmour Paisley Weavers xii.:
I learned in after years that my father got such a glisk for the part he took in '93 as sharpened his wits and rendered him more patient of evils he could not cure.

(4) A resemblance, a slight similarity (Sh., Abd., Ags., Per. 1975). Abd. 1875 G. MacDonald Malcolm xxxi.:
He has a glisk o' the markis tu.