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.
SORT, Soart, v., n. Sc. forms and usages:
I. v. 1. tr. To put in order, arrange, tidy up, attend to, tidy (oneself), arrange one's clothing, etc. (Sc. 1881 A. Mackie Scotticisms 49; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 266; Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 20; Arg. 1936 L. McInnes S. Kintyre 23; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc., also in Eng. dial.; with by, to tidy away; specif. in 1874 quot., to stir up the undersoil in digging.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xl.:
Come till I shew ye the oak-parlour. I loot naebody sort it but my ain hands.wm.Sc. 1842 Children in Trades Report (2) i.8:
When they [girls] have got themselves “sorted” (i.e. redressed) which takes a quarter of an hour.Ayr. a.1851 A. Aitken Poems (1873) 121:
Whan he came frae his wark, he was aye wet and dirty, But, whan sorted, was cheery an' brisk as a lam'.Sh. 1874 Trans. Highl. Soc. 224:
The bottom spit is then well “sorted” or stirred with the blades [of spades] without being entirely inverted. The “sorting of the mould” proceeds in a somewhat intermittent manner.Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie and Bess 92:
I think I'll get mysel' sorted. Did ye ever see a bonnier silk dress an' plaid?Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) 70:
Ye micht a bidden i' the shop till I got the ben hoose sortit.Sh. 1901 T. Ollason Mareel 40:
Shü bissied hersell aboot, sortin' by da tae things.Sh. 1950 New Shetlander No. 20. 11:
Ill-sonnce be anundir 'is karkeege, fur da gluff I got, pechd Tamar, sorting her hat.Gsw. 1995 Chris Dolan Poor Angels 29:
Nowadays, all it took was one sweep of the brush over the head, and her hair was sorted. Slg. 2001 Janet Paisley Not for Glory 199:
Julie sorts Hannah's hair ready fur school.
2. To restore to proper or working order, to put to rights, to repair, mend, fix up, to heal (Sc. 1881 A. Mackie Scotticisms 49; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 266; Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 20; Arg. 1936 L. McInnes S. Kintyre 23; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Uls. 1953 Traynor), vbl.n. sorting, repair, renovation, overhaul; Gen.Sc.; euphemistically, to castrate (Sh., ne.Sc. 1971).Mry. 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains 82:
My Muse is maistly grown gizzen, But that 'ill sort her.Dmf. 1821 Carlyle Early Life (Froude 1882) I. 100:
Send them [clothes] all home that I may wash and sort them once more.Lnk. 1853 W. Watson Poems (1877) 76:
An' yet we think it might be seen How matters could be sortet.s.Sc. 1880 Border Counties Mag. I. 94:
To get some smith work dune, in the shape o' scythes sortin'.Fif. 1893 G. Setoun Barncraig 47:
I'll gang for water for ye, the time ye're sortin' the lamp.Per. 1899 C. M. Stuart Sabbath Nights 41:
There was never nae siller for new things gin the auld could be sorted up.Gsw. 1920 Neil Munro Erchie & Jimmy Swan (1993) 260:
'I'm tired lookin' at that clock and it no gaun for the last three month,' said Erchie. 'Could ye no bring it doon to the watchmaker and get it sorted!'Gall. 1929 Gallovidian 16:
Is your fit gey sore the nicht, son? — will I sort it for ye?Sc. 1951 Scots Mag. (May) 123:
I'm no seekin' a new house. I think an' I had the ane I hae sortit I would be braw enough.Slg. 2001 Janet Paisley Not for Glory 26:
The protests fae the twa cells silenced. 'It's aw right,' she said. 'I'm here. We'll sort it'. Gsw. 2001 Herald 1 Mar 18:
If they're not, they're trading illegally and they should be made to sort that. Let us do it voluntarily, they plea.
†3. To provide for (someone), to furnish or supply (someone), with wi or o (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 20; Uls. 1953 Traynor), †vbl.n. sorting, a supply, a store, a nest-egg; transf., of breeding animals: to serve (the female) (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 175).Ags. 1776 C. Keith Farmer's Ha' 12:
He tells them he's weel sorted now O' a' thing gude, and cheap, and new.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 208:
I am wanting a wife, an' ye're a flesher and has a gude sorting aside you, my mither says ye can sair me or ony body like me.Rnf. 1805 G. MacIndoe Wandering Muse 226:
But ha'd — I fin' my jobernol mair press't How ye'll be sorted wi', than a' the rest.Sc. 1818 Scott Bride of Lamm. xxvi.:
Arena ye far better sorted doun yonder, than ye could hae been in your ain auld ruins upby yonder.Sc. 1834 G. R. Gleig Allan Breck II. iii.:
Hemish wad hae gane far to see her leddyship sorted.Lnk. 1853 W. Watson Poems 47:
I'll sort our first-fitters wi' whisky an' rum.
4. To feed and litter an animal, esp. a horse (n. and m.Sc. 1971). Also in Eng. dial. Also with up (Abd. 1920); sim. to attend to the wants of a child or sick person (Edb. 1880 Trans. Philolog. Soc. (1880–1) 111; ne.Sc. 1971).Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxxvii.:
Ye may rely upon your naig being weel sorted!Kcd. 1819 J. Burness Plays, etc. 283:
Willie gaes an' sorts the sheep.Lth. 1882 J. Strathesk Blinkbonny 23:
In the morning she “sorted” the live stock.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 141:
The nurse had been in and sortit the bairn.Rxb. 1917 Jedburgh Gaz. (16 Nov.) 3:
There was nothing said about grooming or sorting the horse.Bnff. 1934 J. M. Caie Kindly North 16:
She'll bake an' meat the hens an' sort the kye.Abd. 1967 Huntly Express (19 May) 2:
Nae haein' a horse tae sort at journey's end.
5. To deal effectively with (a person), by rebuke or punishment, to put someone in his place, to drub, to scold (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 266; Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 20; Arg. 1936 L. McInnes S. Kintyre 23; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc., also in Eng. dial. Vbl.n. sorting, punishment, correction (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.). Also in Eng. dial.Edb. 1791 Caled. Mercury (12 Sept.):
If Willy wi' him aught gainsays, He sorts him weel.Sc. 1820 Scott Monastery iv.:
May ne'er be in my fingers, if I dinna sort ye baith for it!Lnk. 1836 Justiciary Reports (1838) 22:
He said, if he had John Wilson there, “he would gar him sort me.”Abd. 1882 T. Mair John o' Arnha' 56:
She shortly sorts the cats wi' clods When they get cauterwaulie.Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 40:
Hiss! “Starrie!”, “Seemun!” Tak a hadd! Till I win oot an sort da lad.Ags. 1927 V. Jacob Northern Lights 8:
Weel he kent he'd get a sortin' frae the carlin'.Cai. 1939 Neil M. Gunn Wild Geese Overhead (1991) 297:
"My lad," she murmured, putting the sheets unnecessarily straight, "you watch if I won't sort you for this!" But her decisive tone did not seem at all vindictive.Fif. 1950 Scots Mag. (July) 263:
But I'll sort her when I get the chance!Gsw. 1970 George MacDonald Fraser The General Danced at Dawn (1988) 54:
His face took on that look of whining rage that the Glaswegian wears in times of stress, and he said, "We had them bate. We'd've sorted them this half." Sc. 1995 Duncan McLean Bunker Man 241:
We'll sort the bastard!
6. tr. To select, to choose. Obs. in Eng. since 17th-c.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxi.:
Few folk but mysell could hae sorted ye out a seat like this.Ayr. 1823 Galt Howdie (1923) 32:
On the day I had sorted out of the week I was to be there.
7. tr. To bring together, to pair, match; intr. to come together, to consort socially, keep company, get on, live in harmony with (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 175); to come to an agreement (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Derivs. sortable, well-matched, suitable as a partner; sortless, unsociable.Abd. 1778 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 121:
Like twa sisters ye will sort an' gree.Ayr. 1786 Burns Reply to Trimming Epistle vi.:
This leads me on to tell for sport How I did wi' the Session sort.Peb. 1805 J. Nicol Poems I. 151:
But to declare this is the part, How Jock an' Jean war' sortit.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxxiv.:
The like o' yoursell, or my son, Hamish, wad be mair sortable in point of years.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 126:
Auld Watty Reid, when he's fu', Vows his [mouth] sorts weel wi' drinking an' kissing.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 77:
He did dislike baith Pape and Deil; (Thir twa thegither sortit weil.)Edb. 1838 W. McDowall Poems 40:
He's but a senseless, sortless chiel.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 16, 126:
The Laird an' them had sorted richt . . . But noo, when sorted wi' a frien'.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 60:
A toon-bred lady wasna the kind o' a wife that wad weel sort wi' a young ploughman.
8. With wi: to suit, be agreeable to.Sc. 1816 O. Mortality xxxviii.:
That wad sort ill wi' the auld leddy.
II. n. 1. A considerable number, a fair amount (Bwk., Rxb. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Obs. or dial. in Eng.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxxviii.:
They had fought a weary sort o' years about it.s.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
“Was there mony fouk at the kirk the day?” “Ou, there was a sort at it.”s.Sc. 1834 Wilson's Tales of the Borders I. 18:
He had acquired, as the villagers expressed it, “a sort o' money.”s.Sc. 1956 Southern Reporter (5 Jan.):
December has seen a good sort of the ploughing matches safely past.
2. A setting to rights, a repair, a tidying up. Gen.Sc. Also sort up, id. Phr. out o' sort, out of order, in(to) disarray, untidy. Deriv. sort-like, compar. sorter-like, appropriate, fitting, suitable.Dmf. 1828 W. McVitie Jamie Tod 15:
A house gangs unco far out o' sort, when there's nae woman bodie in't.Lth. 1885 J. Strathesk More Bits 15:
Tibbie ‘lookit in' daily, to ‘gie things a bit sort up.'Edb. 1895 J. Tweeddale Moff xviii.:
But I think masel' it w'u'd be sorter like, instead o' venturing on that sliddery ice, if the likes o' him would only be content tae toast his taes in his ain as'-hole.s.Sc. 1900 Abd. Wkly. Free Press (8 Dec.):
Ye can gie the broken fence doon at Marlfield a bit sort up.Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains and Hilly 102:
They [roads]'re sair needin' a sort up.
3. In pl.: payment, reward, retribution (Sc. 1880 Jam.).
4. Sc. form of Eng. sort.Gsw. 1999 Paul Foy in Moira Burgess and Donny O'Rourke New Writing Scotland 17: Friends and Kangaroos 47:
A bet they want tae know whit team A support, whether A'm a Tim ur a Proddy, that soart a thing.
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"Sort v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Feb 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sort>