Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1773-1942
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GROSER, n. Also grozer, grozar. A gooseberry (Sc. 1808 Jam., groser; Per. 1915, Fif. 1926 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Abd., Ags. (gen. green groser), Per., Fif., Clc. 1955). Also attrib. with buss and in comb. hairy grozer (Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) viii.). [′grozər]Edb. 1773 Session Papers, Petition B. Yule (15 June) 3:
Two fruit trees, and several grozar or gooseberry bushes.Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 160:
Just grozers an' rizers an' a', Brumbels, blae berries an' a'.Abd. 1853 W. Cadenhead Flights 191:
And Geordie Deary's grozers — O'! I think I taste them yet.Knr. 1886 “H. Haliburton” Horace 47:
Wha's grozer-busses mak' amen's For scarcity o' crap.Sc. 1935 D. Rorie Lum Hat 32:
Tak a' thing as it comes, An' niver wyte the grozer buss For no' bein' fu' o' plums.Ags. 1942 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 109:
Ripe and unripe “grosers” followed each other with great haste into the bag.
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"Groser n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/groser>
