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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SLOCK, v., n.¹ Also slok(k), sloke, sloak; slloke (Gregor), slyock. [slok; ne.Sc. + sljok]

I. v. 1. tr. (1) To quench (thirst) (Sc. 1755 Johnson Dict.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 168; Ork. 1929 Marw.). Gen.Sc., gen. in phrs. to slock one's drouth, -mou, -thirst. Vbl.n. slockin, slokkin, enough (drink) to slake one's thirst, a drink, draught (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.: Ork. 1929 Marw.; Sh., ne.Sc. 1970).Edb. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 99:
[To] slock his drouth in a gude hour.Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 8:
To slock our drouth's a knag o' berry brown.Mry. 1828 J. Ruddiman Tales 188:
He gave me a sloaking o' the water.Slk. 1889 T. Kennedy Poems 104:
Sit until oor drouth be slockit An' let him paitter.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (4 June):
A'll get a slokkin' o' dis warm sweet mylk.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 27:
A coolin' waul to slock the mou'.Ork. 1931 Orcadian (7 May):
Hid waasna a peerie drap 'at saired tae Slock 'is tirst.Kcd. 1934 L. G. Gibbon Grey Granite 134:
They'd gotten such an awful thirst to slock.Sh. 1967 New Shetlander No. 83. 22:
An oasis of cool green blaand to slock the universal thirst of voar and hairst days.

(2) To appease the thirst of (a person, animal), to satisfy (with drink). Gen.Sc. Also fig. to appease one's wishes or desires. Ppl.adjs. sl(y)ockin, thirst-quenching; slockit, drunk (Ork., Abd. 1970).Bnff. 1844 T. Anderson Poems 42:
Be wi' a' life's joys weel slockit.Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 333:
Damm'd them up in timmer troughs To slock their yettlin naigs.Abd. 1929 W. Littlejohn Cottar Stories 12:
Lang afore he wss half slokit, I wis blin' fou.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick ii.:
Ale's fine an' slyockin.

(3) To slake (lime) (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 168; Uls. 1953 Traynor Gl.; I. and n.Sc., Fif., wm., sm. and s.Sc. 1970).Fif. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XIII. 468:
200,000 bolls of shells, or unslocked lime; and from 30,000 to 40,000 chalders, of slocked lime.

(4) To moisten, make damp or wet, soak, drench (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 168, Bnff., Abd., Ags. 1970). Vbl.n. slockin, slokkin, a heavy downpour of rain, a thorough drenching or soaking (Gregor; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), 1914 Angus Gl.).Bnff. 1851 Banffshire Jnl. (9 Sept.):
Gae slock them i' the Isla bree.Bnff. 1905 A. I. Shand Days of Past 298:
‘Slooking' [sic] handfuls of meal in lukewarm water.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 64:
Butter't scones an' cyauks in corters, slockit wi' a waucht o' tay.Abd. 1927 E. S. Rae Hansel fae Hame 50:
We're sairly in wint o' a guid slockin' shooer.

(5) To thicken water or soup with meal (Sh. 1970), transposed use phs. by confusion with soak.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Hit is sirpa, afore dey slokk it op wi' meal.

(6) To put out or extinguish, of fire (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 168, slloke; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc., Cai., Wgt. 1970) or light (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1970). Also fig. Phr. slock out, imper., put out the light, also applied to switching off electric light (Ork. 1957). Comb. slocking pint, a traditional drink taken by tradesmen to celebrate the coming of the lighter nights of spring when artificial light is no longer required. Ppl.adj. slockit, extinguished, of fire, or light, fig. dull, dead, expressionless.Sc. 1741 Caled. Mercury (12 May):
As if it had been holden to a Fire till it had been kindled and slock'd with Water.Sc. 1854 D. Vedder Poems 14:
It [rain] slockit at ance the witch's fire.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 99:
I'll as seun blaw apo a slockid co'l.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (23 April):
A watter made aboot da after strood bore an' in he cam green an' slokked oot da fire kettle.wm.Sc. 1925 D. Mackenzie Macmorro's Luck 31:
In some fire he'd lost his temper true, An' steel was slokit.Ork. 1929 P. Ork. A.S. VII. 47:
When the brief Orkney summer was on the wane and evenings darkened about Lammas, the cleaning of the cruizie or the laying in a stock of tallow candles was an excuse for the “lighting pint”, when tradesmen and merchants . . . are said to have adjourned to convenient ale-houses . . . to celebrate the carrying on of business by cruizie, or candle-light. And again, when artificial light was no longer required . . . the occasion was likewise marked by a “slocking pint”.Cai. 1934 John o' Groat Jnl. (9 Nov.) 6:
On Hallowe'en nicht 'e fairies widna start aff til 'e minister o' Bower sloked his lamp.Sh. 1949 New Shetlander No. 14. 10:
Sall I slok da lamp, Johan?Sh. 1952 J. Hunter Taen wi da Trow 97:
Slockit een, laek leepit lempits, Scoolmin oot troo guttery rings.m.Sc. 1991 Tom Scott in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 42:
And gar her feel the lowes that she's lit in me,
Syne slok her burns wi love, tho she's agin me.

2. intr. (1) with pass. force, of thirst: to become quenched, die away, be satisfied.Abd. 1925 Abd. Book-Lover V. i. 6:
For dist mak's a drooth that's unwillin' to sloke.

(2) of fire, light, etc.: to go out, die, be extinguished (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), slokk, 1914 Angus Gl., slok; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc., Cai. 1970).Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 24:
Wi da hosts o siller starns, slokkin, lichtin, deein, leevin.Ork. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. v. 183:
The boys used tae tak some o' the lichted cowes an' run about till they slocket.

II. n. 1. A draught of liquid, a drink (Abd. 1825 Jam.; Dmf. 1925; Sh., Inv., Abd., Dmb., Ayr. 1970). But cf. Sloch, n.², 2.Abd. 1801 W. Beattie Parings (1873) 40:
Gilbert Glass came in to see's, And ga'm a slock.Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 135:
Was't wine, the slock o' feckless pights?

2. A well, watering-place.Bnff. 1862 R. Sim Leg. Strathisla 70–71:
She was stan'in' at a sloak takin' hame water.