释义 |
▪ I. scaff, n. Sc.|skæf| Also scauff. [f. scaff v.] 1. Food, provisions. (Cf. raff n.1 1.)
1768Ross Helenore ii. 68 We'll ripe the pouch, an' see what scaff is there. 1806[see raff n.1 1]. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd iii. (1827) 115 Weel you may see that siegin' host Had skaff and skink withouten Cost. 2. Scum, refuse (said of persons); riff-raff. (Cf. raff n.1 2.) Also scaff and raff, scaff-raff.
1815Scott Guy M. xxv, We wadna turn back, no for half a dizzen o' yon scaff-raff. 1816― Old Mort. v, Wi' a' the scaff and raff o' the water side. 1899Lumsden Edin. Poems & Songs 54 Begone, ye scum and scaff! ▪ II. scaff, v.1 Sc.|skæf| [Of obscure origin; cf. skaigh, which is used in Sc. with a similar though less emphatically contemptuous sense. It has been conjectured that scaff may have been an adoption of the Du. and G. schaffen (whence MSw. skaffa) to provide or procure (food). The word might possibly have been brought over by soldiers who had served in the Continental wars; in military use it would naturally have a colouring that might account for the contemptuous sense of the verb in Sc.] a. trans. To beg or ask for (food, etc.) in a mean or contemptible manner. Also absol. or intr. (Still in common use.) b. To sponge upon (a person). Now rare or Obs.
1508Dunbar Flyting 133 He sayis, thow skaffis and beggis mair beir and aitis, Nor ony cripill in Karrik land abowt. 15..Aberd. Reg. (MS.) XV. (Jam.), Nae bygging of mair vittail nor sustenis thaim self, and topping of the samen, scaffyng thair nychtbouris. 1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis 904 Ane scaffing warlot, wanting schame. 16..Lindesay's (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1814) 512 (Jam.) They scaffed throche all Scotland..for thair particular commoditee. Hence ˈscaffing vbl. n. and ppl. a.
a1568Ye Sonis of Men. be mirry and glaid 30 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Cl.) 59 Think that this lyfe is nocht the lent For skafing heir of scruf and skum. c1600A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) 73/163 Skaffing clarks with couetice inspired. Ibid. 74/209 Skaffing scribes. ▪ III. scaff, v.2 dial. [Of obscure origin. Cf. scoff v.] intr. To eat voraciously.
1797Brydges Burlesque Homer I. 53 But how the hungry whoresons scaff'd; How eagerly the beer they quaff'd. 1882Jamieson's Sc. Dict., Skaff..2. To eat greedily, Shetl. |