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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

RIPE, v.¹, n.¹ Also ryp(e); reip; ripp.

I. v. 1. (1) tr. and intr. To search thoroughly, examine (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 261; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai). Gen.Sc., esp. for stolen property; to hunt (through), grope, rummage. Also fig. Vbl.n. rypin, searching, deriv. ryper, a searcher.Per. 1715 Trans. Gaelic Soc. Inv. XXXIX. 113:
To kill any that would offer to rype or make search for any such thing.Kcb. 1721 Session Rec. Kelton MS. (15 April):
Some body had taken away his harrow and he was designed to cause rype for it.Ayr. 1746 Session Rec. Dailly MS. (23 March):
A search was made and when the rypers came in they found them.Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 47:
Syne ripet a' my shallow pow For hamie lays.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xi.:
When he had riped the turret weel.Gsw. 1842 Children in Trades Report II. I. 46:
Their persons are searched, or as it is called “riped”, every time they leave the [tobacco] works.Fif. c.1850 R. Peattie MS.:
Tam's rypin' up ma coats — feeling among her petticoats.Dmf. 1870 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 71:
The fairy ripes amang the cradle strae, and pu's oot a pair o' pipes.Sc. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods 77:
Some ane, ripin' after lear — . . . , May find an' read me.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 109:
To rype this kittle affair to the bottom.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 249:
She had a keg o' contraband gin in the hoose, an he wud hae tae rype the hoose for't.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick xix.:
Aibby hid fun a reed-cwytit offisher lyin deid an' hid gotten 'im ripit an' a mutchkin o' brandy teen aff o' 'im.

(2) Specif: to rummage through or turn out the contents of (a pocket, wallet, etc.); to pick (a pocket). Gen.Sc. Comb. rype-pouch, a schoolboy word for a pick-pocket (Rxb. 1825 Jam., ‡1923 Watson W.-B.).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 23:
Ryp ilky Poutch frae Nook to Nook; Be sure to truff his Pocket-book.Sc. 1739 Session Papers, Erskine v. Reps. Erskine (25 June) 31:
As well as the Deponent had riped the Pockets, it would seem Peter had riped them better.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 79:
We'll ripe the pouch, an' see what scaff is there.Sc. 1829 Scott Guy M. Intro.:
We maun ripe his pouches a bit, and see if the tale be true or no.Ags. 1848 Feast Liter. Crumbs (1891) 55:
My Whittle's lost! Yet I dinna ken: Lat's ripe — lat's ripe my pouch again.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 109:
Betty, ripe the story wallet! Betty, turn it inside oot!Kcb. 1895 Crockett Bog-Myrtle 208:
I ripit a' my pooches, yin after the ither.Per. 1897 C. R. Dunning Folk Lore 6:
He reipit his pouch for a knife.Fif. 1912 D. Rorie Mining Folk 386:
Ye canna lie fou' at the roadside noo wi'oot gettin' your pooches ripit!Abd. 1931 A. M. Williams Bundle of Yarns 53:
Fan A ripit ma pooch, A fan' it wis ma ain saxpence.Gsw. 1950 H. W. Pryde McFlannel Family Affairs 95:
Ripin' ma pooches when Ah'm sleepin'.Per. 1990 Betsy Whyte Red Rowans and Wild Honey (1991) 58:
She was ryping her pockets as she spoke. 'Betsy, run and see if ony o' them has an inch o' tobacco to give me.'w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 36:
A gambler o fame, McGrew wis his name,
- thir then wis this lady caa'd Lou,
wha cradle't his frame but, bein a dame,
saw rypin his pooches her due.

2. To rifle, to plunder. Also fig. Hence deriv. ryper, a plunderer.Abd. 1777 R. Forbes Ulysses 33:
An ripe wi' candle light Their benner pauntries.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 209:
The benmost part o' my kist nook I'll ripe for thee.Kcb. 1815 J. Gerrond Works 212:
What traveller e'er met sic folk, To nestle kists or ripe a poke.Bwk. 1873 Lady J. Scott Songs (1911) 153:
They've brak into our King's palace, They've ripit his treasury.Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 40:
Gae ben the hoose, an' rype the press.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xxix.:
My desk was riped; the siller box was gone.Rxb. 1961 W. Landles Penny Numbers 20:
A spielin' callant riskin' screeve and cloure, Rypit the reid cheeked aipples whaur they hung.m.Sc. 1979 Tom Scott in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 89:
kittit oot byordinar weel wi teeth
for his omnivorous, voracious appetite
... His hide's that thick and coorse he can rype oot
bykes o wild bees and wilder wasps
impervious o their stings.

3. (1) To clear (the bars of a fireplace, etc.) of ash, esp. in phr. to ripe the ribs (Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; ne. and m.Sc. 1968). See also Rib, n., 2.Sc. 1720 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 223:
Then fling on Coals, and ripe the Ribs.Ayr. 1823 Galt Gathering of West 69:
The sound of ripping the ribs of the grate.Dmf. 1937 T. Henderson Lockerbie 10, 19:
Mrs. Johnstone riped the ribs of the big grate and poked the peats. . . . The riping out of the grate in the kitchen below.Arg. 1946 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 219:
Erchie lights the double-burner lamp . . . rypes the stove, and arrays the china mugs on one of the lockers.

(2) To clear (ash, etc.) out of the bowl and stem of a pipe, to clear (a pipe) of ash (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Ork., Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; I., n. and m.Sc. 1968).  Hence deriv. riper, in comb. pipe-riper, a pipe cleaner (Ib.); to clear out a drain (w.Lth., Rxb. 1968).m.Lth. 1870 J. Lauder Warblings 60:
Can ye len's a preen, to ripe Oot the stapple o' my pipe?Wgt. 1880 G. Fraser Lowland Lore 156:
A long nose is likened to a “pleugh cooter”; a sharp one to a “pipe-riper”.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 73:
Robin rypit the dottle oot o' his pipe.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (19 Nov.):
I wis tryin' ta ripe me pipe wi' a strae.Dmf. 1925 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 17:
Bence, the plant stool-bent. The hard stems are used by the herds to ripe the pipe.Sh. 1928 Manson's Almanac 188:
A waand nae ticker as a pipe riper.

Comb. ripeing-spoon, a spoon so shaped as to be able to scrape the unmelted sugar from the bottom of a tea-cup.Dmf. 1757 Dmf. Testaments MS. XIV. 392:
Ten silver tea spoons and a ripeing spoon.

(3) To blow (one's nose) (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.); to rub or clear (one's eyes).Abd. c.1810 Robin Hood & the Beggar II. in Child Ballads No. 134. lxxxiii–iv.:
“The shaking of my pocks, I fear, Hath blown into your eyne; But I have a good pike-staff here Will ripe them out full clean” . . . In the thick wood the beggar fled, E'er they riped their eyne.

4. To dig up potatoes (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1968); also to strip berries from a bush or peas from a pod (Sh., Abd. 1968).Sh. 1897 Shetland News (16 Oct.):
Hit wid only be a just punishment if He didna gie wis a' a tattie ta ripe.Sh. 1916 J. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr (Iktober):
Da grice needs nae böddie, whin he's rypin taaties.Sh. 1961 New Shetlander No. 59. 18:
We're shorn an we're ripit as alweys we're dün.

†5. To seize, arrest (Kcb. 1909).

6. By conflation with Rip, v.: (1) to plough up old fallow ground, to break in (Wgt. 1968). Also in n.Eng. dial.Kcb. 1897 G. O. Elder Borgue 29:
Ripin' up a' the bits o' green hoams.

(2) to unravel or take out (a piece of knitting). Cf. Rip, v., 3.Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes li.:
To ripe oot the stockin' frae the wrang en' o't.

II. n. A poke, a stir with some instrument which will clear an obstruction (I., n. and m. Sc. 1968).Lnk. 1892 W. Ewing Poems 20:
I then settled down, And gave the ribs a bit ripe.Sc. 1927 J. Millar Scotland Yet 103:
Ye'll may be tak' yer pipe. . . . At times, nae doot, ye'll gie't a ripe.