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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STOUND, v.², n.² Also stoon(d), stoun, stown. [stun]

I. v. 1. To stun, to stupefy, to make insensible with a blow (Ags., Per., Bwk., Lnk., Wgt., Slk. 1971), lit. and fig. Also in Eng. dial.Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man II. vii.:
I gae him sic a knab on the temple, that he was stoundit.Dmf. 1878 R. W. Thom Jock o' the Knowe 96:
Like a creature affliction has stooned.Ags. 1946 D. Twitter Tales 35:
They begood tae say that I'd stoundit her wi' a stick.

2. To stupefy with noise or astonishment, to bewilder, daze. Also in Eng. dial.Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Tales 37:
Wi' sic a soun' my lugs were stown'd.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck xii.:
Bumbased and stoundit at the view o' the lang Hopes an' the Downfa's o' Eternity.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 52:
Like loudest thunder hark a voice, That stounds us from the shores o' Greece.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie viii.:
E'en your wife's tongue canna stound ye, Nor gar ye reist.Gall. 1881 L. B. Walford Dick Netherby xv .:
Dinna ye mind hoo stooned I was.Lnk. 1899 W. Wingate Poems (1919) 59:
The stoundit ear were fain O' the lilt o' a hamewart sang.Lnk. 1926 W. Queen We're A' Coortin 67:
Sergeant, ye've fairly stooned me.

3. To resound, reverberate, ring with noise (Ags. 1971).Sc. 1724 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 13:
The least Noise stounds through his Ears like Death.Mry. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads I. 233:
The yowts That stound upon mine ear.ne.Sc. 1836 J. Grant Tales 63:
The kelpie's weel kent lauch stounin' through the woods.wm.Sc. 1854 Laird of Logan 176:
I'll make her lugs stoun wi' her carelessness.

II. n. 1. A stunning blow, lit. and fig., a stunner, a devastating start of surprise (Ags. 1971).Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 194:
Gave sixty thousand a clean stoun.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 213:
But od! sic a stoond as he got when he came.Ayr. 1879 J. White Jottings 270:
The stoun' that he gied me yestreen, When he poppit the question to me.Wgt. 1885 G. Fraser Poems 45:
But the auld Pillar Cross . . . Is weel worth preserving frae damaging stoun'.Fif. 1894 J. W. M'Laren Tibbie and Tam 24:
Tam lifted his heid, and clean through the roof it gaed. Sic a stoun!ne.Sc. 1928 J. Wilson Hamespun 20:
Then wae! be the stoun that will gar them a' froon, When the waddin' comes aff o' my Willie an' me.Edb. 1936 F. Niven Old Soldier iii.:
What a stound you gave me! You near stopped my heart.

2. A stupefying din, a resounding clamour, esp. of the noise of many waters (Ags. 1971). Cf. Stun, n.Dmf. 1837 Carlyle French Revol. I. v. iv.:
With what dolorous stound the noon-tide cannon went off.Abd. 1847 W. Thom Poems 106:
Your daft brither brak in wi' a stoun', Maist frichtit our birdies away.s.Sc. 1925 H. M'Diarmid Sangschaw 35:
For I sall hie me back to the sea And lie i' the stound o' its whirlpools.Sc. 1933 W. Soutar Seeds in the Wind 38:
Owre ilka sound I hear the stound O' the loupin' waterspoot.

3. A stunned condition, a stupor, state of insensibility (Bnff., Abd., Ags., m.Lth., Dmf. 1971). Obs. in Eng.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 194:
Wi' its strang swing, the girdlet brither Syn in a stound did drap.Bnff. 1968 Banffshire Advert. (8 Feb.) 8:
I jist mine gaun hame in a kin' a stoon.