释义 |
keelie north. dial. and Sc.|ˈkiːlɪ| [Imitative of the bird's cry.] 1. A local name for the sparrow-hawk or kestrel.
1808Jamieson, Keelie, a hawk, chiefly applied to a young one. Loth., Teviotd. 1893Northumbld. Gloss., Keely-haak, the kestrel... Its note ‘keely-keely’ gives it the name. 1898J. Colville Scott. Vernacular (1899) 11 Sclim the branchless stem of the fir for the keelie's nest. 2. A low or vulgar boy; a street-loafer or rough. Sc.
[a1825Scott (Jam.), A combination of young blackguards in Edinburgh hence termed themselves the Keelie Gang.] 1863N.B. Daily Mail 18 Aug., The defender..said that I was a Saltmarket keelie, a fighting man, a thief. 1909Athenæum 1 May 528/2 Most people will..appreciate the sterling..character..of the Glasgow ‘keelie’ of twelve. 1937Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Nov. 870/3 Wondering..whether the rascally little Glasgow ‘keelie’..will succeed in betraying both sides for pay. 1962‘H. Calvin’ System ii. 31 A Glasgow keelie who had grown up in a two-roomed slum. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games iv. 155 ‘It has to be played in the dark’, remarks a keelie. 1973Times 18 May (Glasgow Suppl.) p. iv/2 The archetypal Glasgow keelie is a gallus man. |