Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STRIK, v., n. Also strick (Wgt. 1702 G. Fraser Lowland Lore (1880) 25; Lnk. 1709 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 59; Edb. 1755 Caled. Mercury (24 July); Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 20; Inv. 1819 Edb. Ev. Courant (29 April) 4; Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 58; Sh. 1901 Shetland News (8 June); Ags. 1921 A. S. Neill Carroty Broon 11); strikk; streck (Slg. 1720 Balgair Court Mins. (S.R.S.) 17; wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan 291; Wgt. 1877 G. Fraser Sketches 386; Uls. 1879 W. G. Lyttle Readings 35); ¶strict (Sc. 1748 Earls Crm. (Fraser 1876) II. 223); †streik (Edb. 1700 Burgh Rec. Edb. (1962) 258). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. strike (Ags. 1714 J. C. Jessop Education Ags. (1931) 72; Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 76; Sh. 1900 Shetland News (12 May); Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; ne.Sc. 1971). The form strike is now usual in s.Sc. (s.Sc. 1873 D.S.C.S. 208; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai). [strɪk]

I. v. A. Forms. Pr.t. as above; pa.t. strak (Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 54; Ayr. 1785 Burns Death and Dr Hornbook xxxi.; Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Tales 6; Slk. 1829 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) ii.; Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 43; Sh. 1900 Shetland News (15 Dec.); Per. 1908 Gsw. Ballad Club III. 116; Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 52; Per., Ayr. 1915–23 Wilson; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Sh., ne.Sc. 1971); strack (Ayr. 1707 Arch. and Hist. Coll. Ayr. & Wgt. IV. 224; Sc. 1765 Scots Mag. (Jan.) 43; Dmf. 1826 A. Cunningham Paul Jones III. ii.; Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 78; Abd. 1923 L. Coutts Hotch Potch 30; s.Sc. 1938 Border Mag. (Sept.) 136; I., ne.Sc. 1971) [strɑk]; straik (Rnf. 1718 W. Hector Judicial Rec. (1876) 95; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 268), strake (Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 108; Abd. 1828 P. Buchan Ballads I. 98; Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) II. 335; Ayr. 1847 Ballads (Paterson) II. 44) [strek]; and anglicised forms streuk (Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) Il. 335; I.Sc. 1971), strook (Fif. 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair III. xiv.; Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Tales 68; Mry. 1927 E. B. Levack Lossiemouth 15), †stroock (Sc. a.1714 Earls Crm. (Fraser 1876) II. 496), stroak (Lnk. 1709 Minutes J.P.s. (S.H.S.) 60: Rxb. 1710 J. J. Vernon Par. Hawick (1900) 204); pa.p. strong strucken (Sc. 1710 R. Sibbald Hist. Fif. (1803) 60; Sc. 1827 Scott Journal (1894) II. 411; Peb. 1836 J. Affleck Poems 132; Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Tales 89; Edb. 1900 E. H. Strain Elmslie's Drag-Net 28; Abd. 1912 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 53; Sh., n.Sc., Per., Rxb. 1971); strukin, strukken (s.Sc. 1873 D.S.C.S. 208; Sh. 1898 Shetland News (21 May); Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; I. and ne.Sc. 1971) [′strʌkən]; ¶strocken; stri(c)ken, -an (Sc. c.1800 Jamie Telfer in Child Ballads No. 190 A. xxxi.) [′strɪkən]; ¶stracken (s.Sc. 1885 W. Scrope Salmon Fishing 220); also in sense 4., weak striked, influenced by Straik, v., 7.Ags. 1990s:
Strick: v. strike.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web iii:
There's far, far mair tae a wird than the sayin or spellin o't. There's the wird-picturs it paints; there's the souns an the echoes o souns it strikks; there's the feelins that cluster roon it like bees aroon hinney; ...

B. Usages: 1. As in Eng. Combs. and phrs.: (1) strik a licht, n., the game of hide-and-seek (see quot.); (2) strikin teels, a flint and steel, used to strike a light, before the advent of matches. See Tuil, Fleerish; (3) strucken hour, a whole hour by the clock, implying tediousness in its passing till the next hour has struck (Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc. Also U.S. ¶Extended in 1954 quot. to apply to years; (4) to be strucken up, to be turned to stone, “believed to have been effected by the power of evil spirits” (Abd. 1825 Jam.); (5) to strike (someone's) thumb, see Thoum; (6) to strike one's troth, to pledge one's word. See also Straik, v., 1. (4); (7) to strike under, to yield, give in, “knuckle under.”(1) Abd. 1898 A. B. Gomme Trad. Games II. 220:
Strik a Licht. A version of hide and seek. One player is chosen to be “it”. The other players go away to a distance and “show a light,” to let “it” understand they are ready. They then hide, and the first one found has to be “it” in place of the previous seeker.(2) Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS. v.:
I hae strickin teels in my wallet and gin I could get haud o' them I wad seen get fire.(3) Sc. 1820 Scott Monastery x.:
To listen for a stricken hour to his narration.Sc. 1822 Carlyle Letters (Norton) II. 59:
Thus, have I prated to you for “a strucken hour” of myself.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 53:
For mair nor a strucken oor it keepit a fow wee'ts han's an' feet.Dmf. 1898 J. Paton Castlebraes 301:
I hae been lauchin' for a stricken 'oor.Lnk. 1902 A. Wardrop Hamely Sk. 134:
I glowered a whole strukin' 'oor at it.Ork. 1904 Dennison Sketches 4:
Dere we lay for mair or a strickan hoor.Ags. 1946 D. Twitter Tales 8:
The whilie proved tae be a stricken hoor.Abd. 1954 Buchan Observer (16 Nov.):
Ye've said 'e same thing for ten strucken 'ear.Sh. 1958 New Shetlander No. 46. 13:
Lyin on der backs snorin for eight strukken oors.Ork. 1994 George Mackay Brown Beside the Ocean of Time 108:
He would linger talking a strucken hour with the tinkers at the roadside, even though the tinkers were Catholics who had come originally from Ireland at the time of the great potato famine. Edb. 2004:
Twa strucken oors Ah waited!(6) Sc. 1803 Scott Minstrelsy III. 183:
Then she has ta'en a crystal wand And she has strocken her troth thereon.(7) Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 54:
Haff done, his Heart began to scunner, But lootna on till Rab strak under.m.Lth. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 70:
To match wi' you I maunna fa', Sae I maun' just strike under.

2. In curling: intr. to play a stone so as to strike and dislodge an opponent's; tr. to hit away (an opponent's stone) with one's own.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 169:
With inrings, nice an' fair, He struck the winner frae the cock.Dmf. 1810 J. Fisher Winter Season 74:
Lye here; strike this; guard that; well played.m.Lth. 1817 J. Cairnie Curling (1833) 131:
Out flee the Lads, to draw, inwick, and strike.Slk. 1897 D. W. Purdie Poems 113:
At strikin', wickin', chap an' lie.Sc. 1940 Royal Caled. Curling Club Annual (1940–1) xxxvi–vii.:
Every Competitor shall play four shots at each of the nine following points of the game, viz.: (1) Striking, . . . A Stone being placed on the Tee, if struck, shall count 1; if struck out of the outer circle, it shall count 2.

3. To beat or break flax preparatory to heckling, the flax being bunched together in bundles for the process; hence to tie flax in bundles or “strikes”, to scutch (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., strick); to beat threshed barley in order to remove the awns, to hummel (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 185). See Streek, n.³Rnf. 1763 Session Papers, Neilson v. Porterfield (5 March) 8:
Any other barley kept and heated in any degree, will be very unfit for making into stricken barley.Rs. 1792 Pitcalnie MSS.:
To Stricking 2 B[olls] Barley . . . 5s.Abd. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XVI. 547:
One windmill near the town of Peterhead, which lately, by a small addition to the machinery, strikes pot (pearl) barley.

4. To strike or sweep off any amount of a commodity which rises above the rim of a container of specified capacity, to give the level measure of a container, to level (a measure) (Ayr., Kcb. 1971). Now chiefly dial. in Eng.Dmb. 1779 J. Swinton Weights, etc. 71:
Potatoes are measured by a peck of 15 pints 3 mutchkins. — This peck is striked, or rather rounded, (but not heaped), whereof 16 make a boll.Ags. 1830 W. Shiress Tables Weights 188:
In Dundee, a Met of English Coals contains 54 Standard Scots Pints, stricken measure.Sc. 1899 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 412:
The lippy measure when horse-corn is dealt out, is not striked, but heaped, or at least hand-waved, so that the full allowance will weigh even more than this.

5. With out: (1) intr. of sores, a rash, etc.: to break out, erupt. Cf. Outstrik, v., 2., and Eng. strike inwards in the opposite sense.n.Sc. 1739 W. Fraser Chiefs of Grant (1883) II. 395:
My little Brig.'s head was all struck out.Cai. 1745 Session Papers, Petition J. Miln (22 Feb.) 19:
The lime of the Building fell upon the Petitioner's Head and Face in great Quantities, and made it all strike out in red Spots.Dmf. 1770 Session Papers, Stewart-Nicolson (6 April) 18:
Mich's head has been much struck out for some weeks.

(2) tr. with out, adv.: to make an opening in a wall for, to drive (a door- or window-opening) through a wall (Abd. 1971).Inv. 1795 Morison Decisions 15181:
I hereby agree, at my own expense, to strike out a door on the gavel.Sc. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate v.:
It is not, however, prudent to commence with throwing stones, just when I am striking out windows of my own.

6. To fix or calculate (a price) esp. by taking an average, in phr. to strike fiars (prices). See Fiar, n.², 2., and quots.Sc. 1723 Acts of Sederunt (21 Dec.):
Act declaring and appointing the Manner of striking the Sheriff-fiars.Sc. 1773 Erskine Institute i. iv. § 6:
It is another branch of their ministerial duty to strike the sheriff-fiars yearly in February by a jury; i.e., they fix the prices of grain of the growth of the respective counties for the preceding crop.Sc. 1870 Trans. Highl. Soc. 151:
Fiars shall be yearly struck.Sc. 1952 Scotsman (10 May):
Because certain burdens on estates and certain ancient endowments were fixed in quantities of grain, so it is today still necessary to strike fiars prices.

7. To cut, mow, in phr. to strik tekk, to cut heather for thatch (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1971).Sh. 1888 B. R. Anderson Broken Lights 89:
I'm gaen ta strick some teck da day.Sh. 1899 Shetland News (29 July):
A'm gaen ta strik what I tink ye'll get hame.Sh. 1920 J. Nicolson Folk-Tales 66:
Strikin tekk. This means mowing short heather which is dried and used as bolstering underneath a straw roof.Sh. 1953 New Shetlander No. 36. 7:
Da tek ta strik, da poans ta flae.

8. Of fish: to become immeshed in a net, to be caught (Sh., e.Sc., Kcb. 1971). Cf. Eng. strike, of a fish taking the bait in angling.Sc. 1864 J. M. Mitchell The Herring 26–27:
At certain times they do not come into the nets; and, according to the language of the fishermen, “they do not strike.”

9. Of maggots: to infest (a sheep's wool) (Ayr., Kcb. 1971). See II. 2.

II. n. 1. A stroke, blow, in gen. a striking; a quarrel, dispute. Phr. to be put to the stricks, appar. fig. to be hard pressed in the battle of life, to be faced with misfortune.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 85:
Then sturdy auld carlans, wi guid rungs o' sticks, Could lauch at the puir laws, tho' put to the stricks.Sc. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms cxliii. 2:
Come-na till stricks wi' yer thirlman.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 185:
I maun draw to a close or the streeck of the oor.

2. The infestation of sheep by maggots (see quot.). Gen. (exc. I.) Sc. Cf. n.Eng. dial. struck, infested with maggots.Abd. 1957 People's Jnl. (6 April):
Disease was caused by the “blue-bottle fly.” It struck at the sheep by laying eggs in the fleece and allowing maggots to feed on the flesh. The shepherds know the disease as “strike.”

3. In mining: the horizontal direction of a seam of coal, the level course. Also in Eng. mining usage. Cf. Streek, n.¹, 3. and Throu, n., 1.m.Lth. 1770 Session Papers, Henry v. Clark State of Process 30:
The coal which remained to be wrought off up to the through-strike.