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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

KINCH, n.¹, v. Also kynch, kins(c)h, kench. [kɪnʃ, kɛnʃ]

I. n. 1. A twist or doubling in a rope, a kink (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1907 County of Cai. (Horne) 76; Uls. 1953 Traynor; n. and em.Sc.(a), m.Lth., Kcb., s.Sc. 1960), a loop, a noose, a running knot (Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1960); a handcuff.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xiv.:
A better plan than a' that wad be to make a strong kinch of ropes and hang her.Bch. 1832 W. Scott Poems 146:
A' the dandy kin's o' mutches, Wi' knots and kenches.Ags. 1833 J. S. Sands Effusions 113:
And nails into the pannels driven, . . . Turn'd up within wi' iron kinches.Dmb. 1844 W. Cross Disruption xxviii.:
I ha'e maist got my neck intil a kinch for my pains.Edb. 1861 J. McLevy Curiosities of Crime 29:
In, I hope, my usual kindly manner, I put his hand into the kench.Fif. 1894 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxvi.:
I . . . prepared a string . . . I cuist a kinch on the end o't.

2. A cross rope twisted round another so as to tighten it (Nai. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 459).

3. Fig. A tight corner, predicament, fix, a difficult problem, a “puzzler” (Abd., Fif. 1960). Hence kincher, kenshir, id. (Abd. 1911 Abd. Weekly Jnl. (20 Jan.); ne.Sc. 1960). Cf. Snorl.Abd.¹⁵ 1928:
Ay, 'twis a gey kinch.Bnff.² 1942:
I doot Robbie'll fin' that jobbie a kincher.

‡4. A sudden twist in wrestling (Cai. 1907 County of Cai. (Horne) 76; Per., Fif., Wgt. 1960), a sharp jerk, a sprain (Cai.¹ c.1920), a sharp pain.Lnk. 1838 J. Morrison McIlwham Papers 21:
I'll gie him a kinch that 'll let some o' the wun out o' his bellows.Cai. 1896 J. Horne Canny Countryside (1902) 159:
We'll hev no mind o' our aches an' kinches fan we sit doon on 'e banks o' 'e River o' Life.Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 21:
Before I wist, Wi' kinch and twist Ye threw me on my back.Arg.¹ 1942, obsol.:
I got a kinch on him an' doon he went on the flat o' his back.

†5. In comb. oxter kinch, the arm-pit.Bch. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 23:
My height'll measure se'enty inches, An' five span 'neath my oxter kinches.Ags. 1816 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1852) 29:
A Giant in height twal ell some inches, An' sax between the oxter kinches.

II. v. 1. To twist a loop in a rope with a stick or rod in order to tighten it (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; ne. and m.Sc. 1960); to tie up bundles, etc. with rope or wire in this way; specif. to tie up a side of bacon into a ham (Ayr., Dmf. 1960), to fasten a noose, which may be tightened by a pin, round the tongue, lips or muzzle of a horse, to twitch (ne.Sc., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1960); to untwist damp calico after bleaching (see below). Also with up and fig. Combs. and derivs.: kincher, in mining: one who couples and uncouples the tubs of coal on a haulage rope by means of a looped chain (Sc. 1927 Dict. Occup. Terms (H.M.S.O.) 10); in calico-printing: an assistant who opens out the twists and directs the flow of wet calico into the drying container with a small cane (Lnk. 1900); kinching iron, a tool used by coopers and packers in distilleries for twisting wire round boxes and casks (Clc., Ayr. 1960); kinching stick, the stick used by the kincher in calico-printing (see above) (Lnk. 1900); kinsch-pin, a pin or rod used for kinching ropes (Sc. 1825 Jam.; em.Sc.(a), Ayr., Wgt. 1960). Also in abbrev. form kin(s)ch, id. (Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 125). Cf. kinkin-pin s.v. Kink.Dmf. 1836 A. Cunningham Lord Roldan I. iv.:
The arms of that boy, Morison, are kinched about my very heart.w.Sc. 1842 Children in Trades Report (2) I 27:
The grey goods . . . are deposited on the floor and then “kinched”, i.e. tied up in proper bundles for soaking, boiling, etc.Abd. 1882 T. Mair John o' Arnha's Latter-day Exploits 48:
And John gaed walkin' ben the whale, And kynched the rope aboot the tail.Sc. 1891 Sc. Leader (17 April) 5:
The cruelty attached to “kinching” a pit pony.Fif. 1894 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxvi.:
The tooth cud be easily pu'd oot by means o' a rosety string kinched roon' the root o't.Kcb.¹⁰ 1942:
The easiest wey tae mak' a wild beast stan' tae be milked is tae pit a rape roon' her hert and kinch it up wi' a stick.

2. Weaving: to knot or fasten on leases or loops in bridle-making, “to cast a single knot on the end of a piece of cloth, or of a web” (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.).Rnf. 1876 D. Gilmour Paisley Weavers iii.:
Cross bridles . . . were knotted at about one and a half inches apart . . . On each knot a “short head” was kenched, to each of which was kenched a lash.Rnf. 1904 M. Blair Paisley Shawl 56:
There was the mother . . . winding the pirns . . . and the daughter kenching bridles or tambouring.

3. In angling: to twist or knot a line to stop it running (Per. 1960).

4. To throw a stone by jerking it under one's raised leg (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); to make a flat stone skip on the surface of the water (Fif., Rxb. 1941). Cf. Hainch.