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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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STIEVE, adj., adv., v. Also sti(e)v (Sh.), steev(e), steive, ste(a)ve, stive, and deriv. steeval, -il, stevel, stiv(v)al, stivel. [sti:v]

I. adj. ‡1. Of objects: firmly fixed, stable, rigid, immobile, compact, stiff (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.); also fig. well-established. Adv. stievely, firmly, securely, stiffly.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 142:
Steeve as the rocks that hem our native land.Rnf. a.1794 A. Wilson Poems (1876) II. 12:
Right steeve grew the stomachs of some.m.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 66:
Fast their maws they steevely cram.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck iii.:
I had a gay steeve dour aik stick in my hand.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 309:
We had to draw her near hauf a mile, afore we cam to steave groun.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
A steeve grup, a firm hold.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie v.:
Fou stievely he clouts up auld broken-wind bellows.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders xvi.:
There's a guid steeve purse inside this sleeved waistcoat that is at your service every doit and boddle.em.Sc. 1913 J. Black Gloamin' Glints 75:
We little ken what lies in front, Oor stievest plans get whiles a dunt.Edb. 1928 A. D. Mackie In Two Tongues 59:
The stieve ship lay jowin' in the tide.Sh. 1966 New Shetlander No. 78. 24:
Twa wir stiev corpses afore lang.Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 91:
close-mooths yeuky wi the unkent;
fain tae drap their gett -
a drucken stramash, or a steive corp. Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 48:
The deuks mumps on the frozen loch;
breistin the snell wund frae the north,
the maws keiks doun frae steive weings
at the deid land o Scotland.

2. Of persons or animals or their limbs: firm, stout, strong, sturdy (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 268; Per., Fif., Lth., Dmf. 1971). Deriv. steevish, stiv(v)age, id. Adv. stievely, firmly, stoutly.Cai. 1773 Weekly Mag. (28 Oct.) 147:
I mutter'd a short pray'r, an' took my leave, Syne drank a gockiefu' to mak me steeve.Abd. 1876 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 22:
She'll be mair stivage, heary, trust ye me, Gin she a toment yet be latten be.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 16:
A sturdy auld fallow he was, stood stively wi' a stiff rumple.Ayr. 1786 Burns Auld Mare iii.:
A filly buirdly, steeve an' swank.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 87:
Since I'm now stively on my feet, An' hale an' weel as ever.Peb. 1805 J. Nicol Poems II. 15:
Sax souple Hempies, stive an' stark.Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Tales I. 118:
My foot is not so firm in the stirrup now, nor my hand sae steeve at the steel.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 73:
Set a' your shou'ders, steevely, to the touzlie.Fif. 1841 C. Gray Lays 218:
To help thee stievely owre a gutter.Slk. 1875 Border Treasury (6 Feb.) 321:
I was beginnin' to grow a steevish chield.Ork. 1893 Sc. Antiquary VIII. 57:
Me ain gudeman a warrior prood, An' aye a stival nave his he.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 264:
Muscles steeve as airn.Lnl. 1910 J. White Eppie Gray 10:
The steevest frame through time will wear.em.Sc. 1913 J. Black Gloamin' Glints 34:
Women an' men i' their prime, Hae steppit stievely to an' fro.Fif. 1960:
I'm as stieve as an auld buckie.

3. In more abstract senses: (1) of persons or their attributes: steady, resolute, stout-hearted, staunch, firm in principles (Sc. 1825 Jam.); trusty, loyal, dependable (Id., a steeve friend; Per., Slg. 1971). Occas. of things. Adv. stievely.Sc. 1769 Caled. Mercury (19 April):
Was no Piercie his steeve friend?Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxviii.:
There's parts [of her mind] that look the steever, and the stronger and the grander.Sc. 1816 Scott Black Dwarf i.:
Your father believed it unco' stievely.Ayr. 1862 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage (1892) 354:
Making steive the proverb still, That gude grows out o' ill.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 26:
The puir man's steevest, best o' frien's, Is the fond, loving wife.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 114:
We're a' grown steeve abstainers noo.Dmf. 1871 J. Palmer Poems 19:
Yet in their great object they steivly agree.Per. 1879 P. R. Drummond Bygone Days 216:
He was no “steeve seceder“m.Sc. 1897 Northern Muse (Buchan 1924) 233:
Stout Herds were they, and steeve their creed.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 410:
Fowr hunner steeve Gallawa men in't.Arg. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days xxi.:
His walk so steeve and steady.Edb. 1915 T. W. Paterson Auld Saws 19:
A hairt that's steive, an' couthie, an' leal.ne.Sc. 1935 Sc. N. & Q. (Jan.) 6:
Roy't loons an' rantin' quines Mak steave carles an' strappin wives.

(2) hard-hearted, grim, relentless, inflexible, obstinate (Sc. 1808 Jam., a steeve carle; Per. 1971). Comb. stieve-breasted, emotionally hard, unfeeling.Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 59:
The rags waffin' round her wad wauken ruth In a mair stieve-breasted chield than me.Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags xlv.:
He [Claverhouse] waved his hand, cried to his men, and rode off like the steeve and dour persecutor that he was.m.Sc. 1898 J. Buchan John Burnet iii. i.:
By a' accoont, he's a stieve dour chiel.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 34:
There's saft bits in the stievest men.Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 26:
The auld, thrawn, steeve, contentious spirit.wm.Sc. 1937 W. Hutcheson Chota Chants 26:
Earl Douglas, he was steeve and stark.

(3) well-established in the world, shrewd and prosperous in business, cautious and prudent in money matters, cannie, slightly niggardly.Ayr. 1783 Ayrshire Wreath (1844) 104:
The farmer, a gae jolly spark, In cash and credit steeve.Dmf. 1826 A. Cunningham Paul Jones I. iv.:
A sedate man, and a steeve — well to live in the world.Ayr. 1928:
He's gey stieve wi the siller.

(4) fig. of qualities: strong, durable, hard-wearing.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie Intro. ii.:
We are the true conservatives o' the auld stieve Saxon tongue . . . The gude steeve stuff she's made o'.

(5) of a struggle: hard, obstinately contested, grim; of haste: pressing.Dmf. 1830 J. McDiarmid Sketches 67:
The rest, after a steeve battle, wad soon eat it up.Abd. 1882 W. Forsyth Writings 191:
We'd mony stieve tugs on the fair fields o' Spain.Lnk. 1913 Border Mag. (Aug.) 180:
He was in a steve hurry, an' slippit as they handed him in.

(6) of a road, lit. and fig.: difficult, steep and rough, ungenial (Sh. 1971 , a stieve brae).Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 113:
At the foot o' a stieve an' stey brae.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 52:
He then sets oot on life's stieve road.

4. Of food or drink: strong, substantial, thick, full of pith or body, potent (Per. 1825 Jam., stevel; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 181; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1971, stivval), deriv. stievie, id., e.g. of porridge (Gall. 1971); sim. of cloth: thick, hard-wearing, durable (Ork. 1971, stivval).m.Lth. 1786 G. Robertson Har'st Rig (1801) 13:
Good steeve brochin, braw an' warm.Edb. 1801 H. MacNeill Poems II. 46:
And helping round ilk friend and cousin Wi' crack — and joke — and steeve rum toddy.Mry. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads II. 355:
We'll a' get crowdie whan it's done, And bannocks steeve to bind it.Slk. 1823 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) 294:
His good steeve aitmeal parritch and his horn spoon.s.Sc. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders IV. 92:
I drank a guid steeve tumbler o' toddy.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders xvi.:
Them that gaes linking thorough the moss-haggs and the muirs has need o' some steeve belly-timber.Sh. 1904 E.D.D.:
Der nathin' dat keeps da stamak lek a cug o' steeve gruel.Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' Ling 38:
An' the steer o' the theevil When the parritch are steevil.

5. Of wind: strong, blowing hard.Edb. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 13:
Ere ye dashing sail Afore the wind wi' a stive gale.

II. adv., used in most of the above senses of the adj.: firmly, stoutly, stiffly, securely, with determination, staunchly. Hence steeve still, stock-still, to go steeve on tae, to make straight for (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 93:
As lang's a canny chiel Can stand steeve in his shoon.Hdg. 1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 38:
An' for that purpose, linked steeve, They held by ane anither's neive.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 153:
I reckon'd thee than, Jessie, my ain, Steeve trysted for gude an' a'.Ayr. 1847 Ballads (Paterson) 61:
Whiles the purse that's hespet steeve, Tines a' its gatherings oot.Lth. 1854 M. Oliphant M. Hepburn xi.:
He's keepit his castle stieve against the governor.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 58:
Gie me my parritch reekin' steve.Dmb. 1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 13:
That life to ills mann e'en stieve batter'd be.Kcb. 1886 Vale of Urr Verses MSS. II. 31:
'Mang the younger race there were stieve-built chiels.m.Lth. 1897 P. H. Hunter J. Armiger 34:
There's nae man in the parish'll stand up for him mair stieve.e.Lth. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle 73:
Gin he disna screw them a' steeve an' starn eneuch!Edb. 1928 A. D. Mackie Poems 45:
Wi' ilk stane stapped stieve in.

III. v. 1. To make firm, stiff, or taut. Ppl.adj. steevin, stiff, hard, strong. Also in n.Eng. dial.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Misc. Poetry 101:
I steave up my temper-string gayly.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 49:
Just brak his jaw-bane wi' a guid steevin' kick!

2. In pa.p. steeved, of a boat, heavily laden with fish (Arg. 1990s).Arg. 1998 Angus Martin The Song of the Quern 51:
Yon nicht, steeved wi a sleever,
rowlin roon the Cock,
her forefut fa'in canny,
buffin seas tae smok,