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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

JAUK, v.¹, n. Also ja(w)ck, jauck, jaak, jawk, jag- . [dʒǫ:k, dʒɑ:k]

I. v. 1. To trifle, spend one's time idly, to dally, waste time, be easily diverted from the task on hand (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Uls.² 1929; Kcb. 1959); to slacken, be lazy (Abd.⁶ 1913; Bnff. 1959). Hence jager, a dodger, a work-shy person.Ayr. 1786 Burns Halloween xii.:
An' ay she win't, an' ay she swat, I wat she made nae jaukin.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 45:
Giglet gawkies when their [sic] dameless, Jouk and jauk though seeming thrang.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 196:
My servants they jauked, my labour fell back.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 90:
A' mornin' they keepit a jaukan at the cuttan; an' the rain wiz on afore they got cliack.Uls. 1869 D. Herbison Snow-Wreath 232:
Then lassie haud your jauking tongue, And banish a' sic glaikit fears.Kcd. 1871 Stonehaven Jnl. (1 June) 3: 
He keeps nae idle jagers in a' his wide bounds.Lnl. 1896 Poets and Poetry Lnl. (Bisset) 100:
Whene'er he heard the dolefu' plunge, Took little time to think or jauk.Abd. 1901 Banffshire Jnl. (12 Feb.) 8:
Keep up your whack, an' dinna jauck.

Hence (1) ja(u)ker, jacker, a trifler, “one who works with a slack hand” (wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan App. 506); (2) jaukery, trifling, frivolity.(1) Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 85:
Get up my muse, ye lazy jaker, An' twa three lines together yaker.Sc.(E) 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms i. 1:
Blythe may the man be, wha . . . louts-na at the down-sittin o' lowse jaukers.(2) Slk. 1827 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) vii.:
She wad soon hae flown in my face wi' her gibery and her jaukery, had I tauld her my errand.

2. To walk slowly, to linger by the way (Kcb. 1827 Curriehill). Also ppl.adj., vbl.n. jaukan, jaukin (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 90).Ib.:
She's sic a jaukin' lassie, it she tacks twice ass lang's ony ither ane to gang.

3. Of footwear: to be slack and loose-fitting, to “lift”, through wear or by being too large for the feet (ne.Sc. 1959). Cf. Chaukit.Abd. 1825 Jam.:
Shoes are said to jauk, when from being too large, they do not keep close to the foot in walking.Mearns 1894 J. Kerr Reminisc. III. 53:
But let them be jaukin' or gie me a thraw, An' I'll soon find a quarrel to pack them awa.Abd. 1954 Banffshire Jnl. (26 Jan.):
It's aye oot in holes. I think it's the jaukin' o's beets'at diz't.

II. n. Trifling at work, fiddling (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 90); an idler, a slacker or trifler at work (Id.).