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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.

SNOTTER, n., v. Also snot(t)her (Uls.); snoter. [′snotər]

I. n. 1. Chiefly in pl.: nasal mucus, esp. when hanging from the nose (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ayr. 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Ayr. 689; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 430; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen. (exc. I.) Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 139:
A snotter at a bubbly wean's nose.wm.Sc. 1836 J. Struthers Dychmont 48:
Brats in rags inch thick with snotter.Arg. 1914 J. M. Hay Gillespie iv. viii.:
I'm just an auld hanky fou o' snotters.ne.Sc. 1990 Alexander Hutchison The Moon Calf 29:
Nae swite, nae spit, nae snotter -
nae a jot. Clean's a fussle. Sc. 1993 Scotland on Sunday 2 May :
Blood and snotters must have been on the dressing room wall after this. Sc. 1994 Scotsman 22 Apr :
"I'm not a very mumsy person. I'm a working woman. I've never been a great one for always being there with a hanky to mop up the snotters." wm.Sc. 1995 Alan Warner Morvern Callar 106:
I turned away and sobbed, chucking some snotter aside that stuck to the back of my wiping hand. Sc. 1998 Scotland on Sunday 25 Jan 4:
Control did change hands at Richards but despite the blood and snotters on the boardroom floor in Aberdeen which excited some financiers north of the Border, events were viewed differently down south. Sc. 1998 Daily Record 3 Dec 19:
They will then slide down a plastic windpipe into a model of a smoker's lung, before the sneeze fires them and a wave of green plastic virtual snotters on to a monster hankie. Sc. 2004 Scotland on Sunday 29 Aug 10:
These matches are always sweat, snotter and sawdust affairs and that suits Alex's game down to a tee.

2. Combs. and deriv.: (1) snotter-box, (i) the nose (Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems Gl.; Mry. 1921 T.S.D.C.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 266; ‡ne., sm. and s.Sc. 1971); (ii) fig., a soft, stupid, untidy person (Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Fif. 1950); (2) snotter-cap, a dull, stupid, boorish person (Rxb. 1825 Jam.; Watson); (3) snotter-cloot, a handkerchief. Also in Eng. dial.; (4) snotter-dichter, id. Gen. (exc. I.) Sc., among children; (5) snottery, slimy, running at the nose. Gen.Sc. Hence snotterie-bark, elm-tree bark (Gall. 1971), snottery-box, snottrie-, = (1) (i) (Abd. 1928).(1) (i) Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 49:
His mither blew her snotter-box.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 76:
A dreadfu' show'r o' mud an' glare, Bespatter'd Gibbie's snotter-box right sair.(ii) Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xvi.:
The snotter-box wad hae gane snoolin' in aboot them again o' his ain accord.(3) Cai. 1922 J. Horne Poems 118:
Here's a snotter-cloot for ye, till dicht 'e bobbantilters fae yer neb.(5) Ayr. 1817 D. McKillop Poems 106:
Your snottrie-box, just draw an curl.Abd. 1967 Abd. Press & Jnl. (13 May):
Hardy outwintered calves took snottery noses.

3. In pl.: a severe head-cold, together with stoppage of the nostrils (Bwk. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 172; Kcb. 1971). Also in Eng. dial.

4. (1) The snuff or burnt wick of a candle (Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 62; Abd., Kcd. 1921 T.S.D.C.; ne.Sc., Kcb. 1971). Cf. Nhb. dial., a candle that has guttered.Sc. 1720 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 180:
Here Coachmen, Grooms, or Pasment Trotter, Glitter'd a while, then turn'd to Snoter.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 150:
As soon as Phoebus lifts his een, An' trims his golden cruzie clean, An' draws the snotter wi' a preen.ne.Sc. 1909 G. Greig Folk-Song iv.:
My can'le noo it is brunt oot, The snotter's fairly on the wane.Abd. 1960 People's Jnl. (17 Dec.) 13:
The wick hid a gey snotter on it.

(2) solder ends left in welding; lumps of plaster which have dropped down in a wall-cavity behind the lath (Ayr. 1971).

5. The red membranous part of a turkey-cock's beak (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai., Per., Fif. 1971). Cf. Eng. dial. snotter-gob, id.Per. 1830 Perthshire Advert. (14 Oct.):
Rustling his feathers, stretching out his snotter, and gobble, gobbling.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin vii.:
Blawin' oot his skinny chafts like the snotter o' an angry bubbly-jock.

6. A term of abuse or contempt, applied to persons (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; Uls. 1929; Gall. 1930); used as a nickname (Cai. 1971).Fif. 1895 S. Tytler Kincaid's Widow xiv.:
She had aye the best word I could ware on her, puir, ill-used, saft snotter.

7. A snub, a rebuke. Deriv. snot(te)ry, surly, brusque, snooty (em.Sc. (a), wm.Sc., sm.Sc. 1971).Ags. 1896 A. Blair Rantin Robin 102:
I was sure to get anither snotter frae Marget.

8. A snigger (Fif. 1825 Jam.).

II. v. 1. To snuffle, to snort, to breathe heavily through the nose (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, s.v. snokis, 1808 Jam.; Ags. 1971). Also in Eng. dial.Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce II. x.:
Come forit, Robbie Grahame, ye snotterin' elf.Fif. 1898 Colville 136:
To snotter or slaver was no less objectionable.m.Lth. 1920 C. P. Slater Marget Pow Looks Back 155:
I dinna like they snotterin' wee dogs.Cai. 1926 N. Gunn Grey Coast i.:
He hummed an' snottered aboot an' said the road wasn't this or that.m.Sc. 1999 Christopher Brookmyre One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night 181:
'Come on, you're gaunny snotter all over the champers,' he added.

2. To snivel, to weep noisily, to blubber (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Also in Eng. dial. Deriv. snottery, tearful, lugubrious (wm.Sc., Kcb. 1971).Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxii.:
What signified his bringing a woman here to snotter and snivel, and bather their Lordships?Ayr. 1868 J. K. Hunter Artist's Life 49:
What's the use o' you snottering about that?wm.Sc. 1932 A. H. Charteris When the Scot Smiles 185:
Whit wiz he aye greetin' for? A doot he'll hae been a snottery kin' o' fellah.Gsw. 1993 Herald 30 Jun 22:
See if yi're educated an' yi bring yir turbo car up the road to Ibrox, yi think the smart wheeze is to park in wan o' the quiet side streets to keep awa' frae the snottery weans. Sc. 1996 Scotland on Sunday 14 Jan 15:
Never in my life have I seen such aggro and snottery blood-letting as at the Cumnock-Auchinleck match three weeks ago. Sc. 1998 Scotsman 29 Dec 14:
Ever since, that name has had connotations for me, of simian features, a snottery nose, the social grace of a hyena and a queer personal hum. Sc. 2003 Daily Record 11 Jan 61:
Imagine how embarrassing it would be giving 50p to a snottery-faced 35-year-old for looking after your car.

3. To snooze, to doze (Mry. 1925).Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 13:
All Day he snotters, nods and yawns.Sc. 1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 98:
Thou turns sleepy and blind, And snoters and snores far frae men.Sc. 1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance II. xxx.:
He just lies there snottering awa!Bnff. 1862 R. Sim Leg. Strathisla 77:
Wi' sic a soncy and bonny bedfallow as yoursel, he wadna like, and disna use, to snotter here him lane.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick i.:
Gweed preserve's, hae A been snotterin?

4. To snigger (Fif. 1825 Jam.).Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) 103:
He snottered an' leuch.