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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WINNOCK, n. Also winnoc (Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie x.), winock (Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 280); wunnock; windi(c)k (Ags. 1812 R. Wighton Beggar's Son 13), windock (Ags. 1810 J. Paterson Poems 115; Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 76; Abd. 1913 Rymour Club Misc. II. 54); wundock. Dim. form winnocky (Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 86). [′wɪnək, ′wʌn-; em.Sc. (a) ′wɪnd-. See D, letter, 2.] A window (Sc. 1808 Jam., winnock, windock; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., windik; Per. (wundock), Ayr. (wunnock) 1915–23 Wilson; ne.Sc., em., wm.Sc. 1974). Also attrib. as in winnock frame, -pane, -shutter, -sill. Adj. winnockless, without windows.Slg. 1709 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) I. 153:
The devil tirle the skinn off you, and make a winnock to hell of it!Sc. a.1758 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 318:
Heh! like a kow, To fuff at winnocks and cry Wow!Ayr. 1785 Burns Winter Night iii.:
List'ning, the doors an' winnocks rattle.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxv.:
Mony a time I hae helped Jenny Dennison out o' the winnock.Ags. 1820 A. Balfour Contemplation 264:
The winnocks dim wi' barkened dust.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 348:
Reefless an' winnockless, it stan's a moniement abeen the graves o' mony generations.Bwk. 1897 R. M. Calder Poems 206:
An' roun' the winnock frame The rose an' jessmine nae mair nod.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 247:
It left a trail o' blude on the whitewash o' the wunnock.Sc. 1926 H. McDiarmid Penny Wheep 67:
Winnock efter winnock kindles wi' a sense O' gain and glee.Sc. 1933 W. Soutar Seeds in Wind 14:
Whan the nicht wind's chappin' On the winnock-pane.wm.Sc. 1986 Robert McLellan in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 24:
They nearly aye fent. ... Keep an ee on the winnock, Janet. m.Sc. 1986 Ian A. Bowman in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 165:
The gean tree, aa in bud forenenst your winnock m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 25:
The door that swung wi guidwull on its hinges
is no sae thrang the day as it wes then,
whan ilka callant rettled on yir wunnock
wi chuckie-stanes tae gar ye cry them ben. Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 29:
Och, I canna see,
winnocks greetin wi yoam, hear nae soond
but yon dowf bell. Sc. 1991 R. Crombie Saunders in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 30:
They hear a tap on the winnock,
They see a beckonan wraith:
Outbye stauns their deid faither,
Hapt in his black priest-claith. m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
Dinna bide in yon chaumer
Wi the wee, clorty winnock
At the tap o the hoose
Up the kypie stair
I tell ye, ye'll no ken yersel
Aince up in yon chaumer
An the door steekit efter ye.

In combs. (see also Window): (1) ben-windock, a window in the ben room of a house (see Ben, adj.); (2) winnow-bole, occas. also bole-winnock, the aperture for a window, extending through the thickness of the wall, and forming a shelf for small objects. See Bole, n.¹, 2.; (3) winnock-bro(a)d, a window-shutter; (4) winnock-bunker, a window-seat, a ledge at a window forming a settle, sometimes confused with (2); (5) winnock-cheek, the side or jamb of a window. See Cheek, n., 1.; (6) winnock-hinger, a window-curtain. See Hinger, n., 1.; (7) winnock-hole, = (2) (Bwk. 1942 Wettstein); (8) winnock-lug, a window-corner; (9) winnock-neuk, id.; (10) winnock-sole, a window-sill. See Sole, n., 4.; (11) winnock-stane, id.(1) Ags. 1880 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) I. 29:
Aneth oor ben-windock it grew.(2) wm.Sc. 1835 Laird of Logan 281:
Ye'll for a certainty flee out at the winnock-bole like a witch.Bnff. 1896 W. Knight Auld Yule 35:
He said, and vanish'd frae the winnock bole.Ags. 1907 D. Tasker Readings 45:
And then the bole winnock they peppered wi' gravel.(3) Ayr. 1819 Kilmarnock Mirror 300:
I steekit the winnock-brods, locket the door, an' stappit hame.Ags. 1845 Arbroath Guide (14 June) 4:
To tell a'body to steek their doors and put up their windock broads.(4) Ayr. 1790 Burns Tam o' Shanter 119-20:
A winnock-bunker in the east, There sat Auld Nick in shape o' beast.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 2:
This universal charm that makes his pages glitter in the library of the lord, and lie in the winnock bunker of the labourer.Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Traditions (1887) 82:
An aperture of no small dimensions was left in the middle of the ridge to admit the light and “vent the reek.” No “winnock-bunker” was otherwise considered necessary .(5) Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 75:
George Buchanan, douce and meek, Was reading, by his windock-cheek.(6) Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 56:
Cheeks for bed an' winnock-hingers .(8) Abd. 1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes xviii.:
At the door-sill, or winnock-lug.(9) Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 38:
Spider wabs, in dozens, Hing mirk athort the winnock neuks.Rnf. 1827 W. Taylor Poems 59:
Thou sits rent and duty free In winnock neuk, or bushy tree.Lnk. 1885 Gsw. Ballad Club I. 127:
Through the winnock-neuk the sun blinks in.(10) Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 210:
Last owk there on a winnock-sole, I fan some aul newspaper.Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 115:
In a winnock sole, jist i' the gable, Whaur baudrons aft wad sit and wash her face.Kcb. 1896 Crockett Grey Man i.:
Put the Bible for a keepsake in your winnock sole.Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' Ling 16:
To watch 'er at the winnock-sole Wad gar ye greet, were't no sae droll.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 90:
Thir burdlife keelies, impident an gash,
awroads thay flee aboot the kintraside;
lik reivers on a herryin, doun thay glide,
but ye'll no fin thaim roostin thare at nicht.
On bieldie ceetie winnock-soles thay bide.
Thay spreckly skellums ken whit's whit aw richt.(11) Ags. a.1865 Bards Ags. (Reid 1897) 508:
I heard ye stappin' thro' the snaw, An' rap upon the winnock stane.