scalyn.
/ˈskeɪli/, U.S. /ˈskeɪli/, South African English /ˈskeɪli/ South African.
A large yellow-fish, Barbus natalensis, of the family Cyprinidæ, found in certain rivers in KwaZulu-Natal province.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > superorder Ostariophysi or order Cypriniformes > [noun] > suborder Cyprinoidei > family Cyprinidae (minnows and carps) > member of genus Barbus
barbelc1380
groundling1601
yellowfish1834
mahseer1854
scaly1947
tiger barb1951
1947 K. H. Barnard Pictorial Guide S. Afr. Fishes 56 The well-known Scaley..of Natal is a near relative of the Yellow-fish.
1971 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 27 Mar. 23/3 An interesting observation last week was the presence of shoals of scalies in the Bushmans river.
1975 Standard Encycl. Southern Afr. XI. 563/1 The Natal scaly..reaches 5 kg and is restricted to the Pongola system and the rivers of Natal.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scalyadj.
/ˈskeɪli/, U.S. /ˈskeɪli/ 1. Abounding in, covered with, or consisting of scales; having a surface that peels off in thin plates or layers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > layer of skin > [adjective] > specific layers > detached scale of epidermis
scaly1538
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > texture or colour > [adjective] > texture > laminated
scaly1538
scissile1552
platy1789
flat-bedded1793
schistose1794
schistous1803
sheeted1903
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Squammosus, skaly.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 74 If your teeth be verie scalie, let som expert Barber first take off the scales.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 442 The scalie Sutures of the Temple-bones.
1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 14 The surface..is covered with a scaly rock.
1793 Gentleman's Mag. May 422/1 An altar-tomb, or altar, of scaly stone.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem. III. 82 A scaly, sweetish, gummy mass.
1892 E. Lawless Grania ii. 7 The wind..tearing off fragments of scaly stone from the rocks.
2.
a. Of fishes, serpents, and other animals; frequently in poetry = pertaining to or consisting of fish (scaly flock, herd, nation, tribe).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [adjective] > having a hard protective covering > having scales
scaleda1400
scaly1528
plateda1560
squamy1592
squamigerous1656
squamose1661
shielded1662
squamous1668
squamated1752
scutated1802
loricate1826
scutate1826
squamate1826
scutulate1827
loricated1871
scutulated1885
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. O ij b The more skaly that fishe is, the better hit is.
1595 E. Spenser Epithalamion in Amoretti & Epithalamion iv. sig. G5v The siluer scaly trouts.
c1614 W. Mure tr. Virgil Dido & Æneas iii. in Wks. (1898) I. 127 The skailly squadrones of the liquid lakes.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xviii, in Poems 9 The scaly Horrour of his foulded tail.
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 xv. 5 So here the skaly Herd when Proteus blows.
1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 6 The patient Fisher takes his Silent stand..With Looks unmov'd, he hopes the Scaly Breed.
1737 Compl. Family-piece (ed. 2) i. ii. 108 Season the Scaley Side first.
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 450 The body of these fishes is scaly.
1857 J. Hamilton Lessons from Great Biogr. (1859) 278 His own line quivered with a scaly captive.
1872 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries Abyssinia (new ed.) viii. 115 A strip of the scaly hide of a crocodile.
b. In specific names, usually representing Latin squamosus, squamatus, or squameus: see quots. scaly ant-eater, scaly lizard, names for the pangolins.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Edentata > [noun] > genus Manis or pangolin
scaly lizard1681
manis1750
pangolin1774
phatagin1774
scaly ant-eater1840
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. iii. 46 The Scaly-Lizard..is a yard and ½ long.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 118 The Pangolin, which has been usually called the Scaly Lizard.
1802 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 74 Scaly Tortoise. Testudo Squamata.
1812 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. VIII. 463 Scaly Lory. Psittacus squameus.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 186/1 Pangolins, a name in common use to designate the Scaly Ant-eaters.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 227 Genus Scardafella Bonaparte. Scaly Dove.
c. scaly fish n. (slang): see quot. 1796.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > types of sailor > [noun] > blunt or honest sailor
scaly fish1796
1796 Grose's Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 3) Scaly Fish, an honest, rough, blunt sailor.
3.
a. Of plants and their parts: Covered with scales or consisting of scale-like elements.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > leaf > bract, scale, palea, or spathe > [adjective] > having bracts, etc.
scaly1597
paleaceous1648
squamous1658
paleated1661
paled1704
squamose1731
leprous1759
spathaceous1760
squarrose1760
comose1793
glumose1793
ramentaceous1806
squarrous1806
leprose1818
squamate1826
glumaceous1828
bracteolate1830
lepidote1836
bracteate1839
spathose1839
squamulose1846
bracteated1852
bracted1854
obimbricate1857
squamaceous1857
squarrulose1857
ramentiferous1858
furfuraceous1860
tribracteate1870
tribracteolate1870
paleate1879
bracteose1880
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 588 Small scaly knops, like to the knops of Corne flower.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 80/2 The Arbor Vitæ, or Tree of Life hath a small scaly leaf.
1786 J. Abercrombie Gardeners Daily Assistant 242 The main bulbs of lilies, of the scaly tribe, will not keep good so long out of the ground as the solid bulbous kinds.
1839 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) iii. 470 Scaly.., covered with minute scales, fixed by one end; as the young shoots of the Pine tribe.
1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. (1866) 46 When the scales are narrow and separate, as in the Lily, the bulb is said to be scaly.
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 622 Rhizomes with scaly leaves.
b. scaly fern or scaly spleenwort, the ceterach. scaly water-moss, Fontinalis squamosa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > other mosses
golden maidenhair1578
polytrichon1578
bryon1597
maidenhair moss1597
mountain coralline1598
chalice-moss1610
purple bottle1650
water moss1663
fern-moss1698
hypnum1753
Mnium1754
rock tripe1763
feather-moss1776
scaly water-moss1796
screw moss1804
hog-bed1816
fringe-moss1818
caribou moss1831
apple moss1841
bristle-moss1844
scale-moss1846
anophyte1850
robin's rye1854
wall moss1855
fork-moss1860
thread-moss1864
lattice moss1868
robin-wheat1886
the world > plants > particular plants > ferns > [noun] > spleenworts
maidenhairc1300
finger fern1548
scale-fern1548
stone-rue1548
wall rue1548
tentwort?1550
ceterach1551
stone-fern1552
English maidenhair1562
male fern1562
miltwaste1578
spleenwort1578
stonewort1585
white maidenhair1597
milt-wort1611
mule's fern1633
rusty-back1776
maidenhair spleenwort1837
sea-spleenwort1850
sea-fern1855
scaly spleenwort1859
black adiantum1866
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 789 Scaly Water-moss.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 224 Common Ceterach, or Scaly Spleenwort.
4.
a. Of skin diseases. scaly ringworm, tinea imbricata. scaly tetter, psoriasis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [adjective] > of disease: scurfy or scabby
roinousc1400
furfuraceous1650
scaly1796
crustaceous1801
squamose1822
squamous1829
psoriatic1836
desquamatory1837
desquamative1847
psoriasiform1897
scaling1897
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > scurfy or scabby state or disease
scurfc1000
scabc1250
scallc1374
lepraa1398
morphoeaa1398
scalledness1398
morphewa1400
scabiesc1400
scale14..
scruff14..
shellsc1400
rove?c1450
scabnessc1450
scabbedness1483
scaldness1527
scurfinessa1529
scaledness1530
dandruff1545
skalfering1561
bran1574
room1578
reefa1585
scabbiness1584
scald1598
skilfers1599
scabiosity1608
scalliness1610
scaliness1611
furfur1621
morph1681
pityriasis1684
psoriasis1684
porrigo1706
scaly tetter1799
motley dandruff1822
scale-skin1822
parapsoriasis1903
dander-
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > ring-worm or favus
achorOE
scalled-head1340
motha1398
tinea1398
serpigoc1400
ringworma1425
scald1561
tetterworm1622
surpeguea1632
serpentine1639
scald head1673
favus1706
honeycomb scall1817
dhobie itch1890
trichophytosis1890
scaly ringworm1898
whitehead1911
athlete's foot1928
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxxix. 226 The skaly Mange, which..taketh off the skinne where it goeth.
1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. 112 Those who make a free use of it,..have a scaly appearance, not unlike the leprosy.
1799 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 2 112 Scaly Tetter.
1819 S. Cooper First Lines Pract. Surg. (ed. 4) I. i. xxv. 253 In the majority of cancerous diseases, the skin has a yellowish or lead-coloured tinge, and is dry and scaly.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. Introd. p. xiii Tropical scaly ringworm.
b. transferred. Of trees: Infested with the scale insect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having disease caused by insect
cankeredc1522
cankerous1613
cankery1681
scabbed1693
grubbed1843
sedged1844
phylloxerated1879
phylloxerized1881
root-knot1888
stem-sick1890
scaly1894
1894 Times 14 May 3/4 This [wash] is strained before being sprayed upon the scaly trees.
5. Of armour. Cf. scale-armour n. at scale n.2 Compounds 2 and scaled adj.1 Chiefly poetic.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > [adjective] > made of or furnished with plates
scaled1555
scaly1600
mascled1818
tegulated1834
laminated1869
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 i. i. 146 A scaly gauntlet now with ioynts of steele Must gloue this hand. View more context for this quotation
1748 T. Gray Ode Death Favourite Cat iii, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems II. 268 Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xviii. 120 His cuirassiers..glittering with their scaly armour.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xv. 641 His corslet thick With plates of scaly brass.
6. Mineralogy. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1796 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) II. 339 Brown Scaly Iron Ore.
1815 A. Aikin Man. Mineral. (ed. 2) 200 Scaly Talc,..an aggregate of minute scales of a greenish colour.
1815 A. Aikin Man. Mineral. (ed. 2) 202 Scaly Chlorite,..composed of glimmering scaly particles.
1816 R. Jameson Min. (ed. 2) III. 243 Red Ironstone. This species is divided into four subspecies, viz. Scaly Red Ironore [etc.].
7. slang. Poor, shabby, despicable; esp. (of persons) mean, stingy; occasionally, in poor health, ‘seedy’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > [adjective]
gnedec900
gripplea1000
fastOE
narrow-hearteda1200
narrow?c1225
straitc1290
chinchc1300
nithinga1325
scarcec1330
clama1340
hard1340
scantc1366
sparingc1386
niggardc1400
chinchy?1406
retentivea1450
niggardousa1492
niggish1519
unliberal1533
pinching1548
dry1552
nigh1555
niggardly1560
churlish1566
squeamish1566
niggardish1567
niggard-like1567
holding1569
spare1577
handfast1578
envious1580
close-handed1585
hard-handed1587
curmudgeonly1590
parsimonious?1591
costive1594
hidebound1598
penny-pinching1600
penurious1600
strait-handed1600
club-fisted1601
dry-fisted1604
fast-handed1605
fast-fingered1607
close-fisted1608
near1611
scanting1613
carkingc1620
illiberal1623
clutch-fisteda1634
hideboundeda1640
clutch-fista1643
clunch-fisted1644
unbounteous1645
hard-fisted1646
purse-bound1652
close1654
stingy1659
tenacious1676
scanty1692
sneaking1696
gripe-handed1698
narrow-souled1699
niggardling1704
snippy1727
unindulgent1742
shabby1766
neargoinga1774
cheesemongering1781
split-farthing1787
save-all1788
picked1790
iron-fisted1794
unhandsome1800
scaly1803
nearbegoing1805
tight1805
nippit1808
nipcheese1819
cumin-splitting1822
partan-handed1823
scrimping1823
scrumptious1823
scrimpy1825
meanly1827
skinny1833
pinchfisted1837
mean1840
tight-fisted1843
screwy1844
stinty1849
cheeseparing1857
skinflinty1886
mouly1904
mingy1911
cheapskate1912
picey1937
tight-assed1961
chintzy1964
tightwad1976
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > disordered or out of sorts
out of estatec1400
disordainedc1430
out of order1530
mistempered?1541
untemperate1541
so-soa1592
indisposed1598
discomposed1603
out of sorts1621
disorderly1655
queerish1684
out of one's gears1699
disordered1708
uneasy1725
seedy1729
queer1749
scaly1803
quisby1807
under the weather1827
all nohow1852
toneless1854
nohowish1867
chippy1868
fishy1868
off-colour1876
dicky1883
on-and-offish1888
cheap1891
crook1916
lousy1933
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [adjective] > contemptible
unworthc893
unwrastc893
littleOE
narrow-hearteda1200
wretcha1200
unworthya1240
wretchedc1250
un-i-wrastc1275
bad1276
lechera1300
feeblea1325
despisablea1340
villain1340
contemptiblec1384
lousyc1386
caitiff1393
brothelyc1400
roinousa1425
poor1425
sevenpennyc1475
nasty1477
peakish1519
filthy1533
despectuous1541
beggary1542
scald1542
shitten?1545
disdainfula1547
contemptuous1549
despicable1553
skit-brained?1553
contemniblea1555
vile1560
sluttish1561
queer1567
scornful1570
scallardc1575
tinkerly?1576
worthless1576
beggarly?1577
paltry1578
halfpenny1579
dog bolt1580
pitiful1582
sneaking1582
triobolar1585
wormisha1586
baddy1586
dudgeon1592
measled1596
packstaff1598
roguey1598
roguish1601
contemptful1608
grovelling1608
lightly1608
disdainable1611
purulent1611
snotty-nose1622
vilipendious1630
cittern-headed1638
wormy1640
pissabed1643
triobolary1644
disparageable1648
blue-bellied1652
unestimable1656
scullion1658
piteous1667
dirty1670
shabbed1674
shabby1679
snotty1681
snotty-nosed1682
mucky1683
bollocky1694
scoundrel1700
scaldeda1704
sneaking1703
ficulnean1716
unsolid1731
pitiable1753
scrubby1754
inimitable1798
scrubbish1798
worm-likea1807
small1824
lowlife1827
ketty1828
skunkish1831
yellow-bellied1833
scaly1843
cockroachya1845
wutless1853
nigger1859
trashy1862
low-down1872
cruddy1877
shitty1879
tinhorn1886
blithering1889
motherfucking1890
snidey1890
pilgarlicky1894
shitass1895
shoddy1918
yah boo1921
bitching1929
shit-faced1932
turdish1936
fricking1937
jerk-off1937
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
snot-nosed1941
jerky1944
mother-loving1948
scroungy1948
fecking1952
pissant1952
shit-kicking1953
shit-eating1956
bumboclaat1957
rassclaat1957
shit-headed1959
farkakte1960
shithouse1966
daggy1967
dipshit1968
scuzzy1969
bloodclaat1971
bitch ass1972
wanky1972
streelish1974
twatty1975
twattish1976
dweeby1988
douchey1991
wank1991
cockish1996
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > having lost freshness > shabby
shabbed1674
shabby1685
shab-rag1770
fatigued1774
slipshod1818
scuffed1827
scaly1843
seedy1868
dog-eared1872
shoddy1927
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 19 Poor Anax! he was quite scaly before his departure, but is now recovering apace.
1821 P. Egan Life in London ii. iii. (Farmer) If you are too scaly to tip for it, I'll shell out, and shame you.
1823 Spirit of Public Jrnls. 233 They had proved themselves so very scaley, by forgetting to remember the waiter.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxviii. 338 A reg'lar scaly old shop, warn't it?
1875 W. Besant & J. Rice With Harp & Crown I. x. 206 If I were an author—they are a scaly lot, and thank Heaven I am not one.
Compounds
C1. Chiefly parasynthetic.
ΚΠ
?1634–7 J. Milton Comus (MS Trinity Coll. Cambr.) 13 The scalie-harnest dragon.
?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VII.–VIII. Table 64 Scaly-like Fruit.
1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. i. 246 Scaly-breasted Parrakeet.
1805 R. Jameson Treat. External Characters Minerals 67 Scaly foliated, in which the folia cover each other partially, as in mica.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 21 Scaly-stalked Club-rush.
1975 P. W. Hanney Rodents ii. 30 There are no flying squirrels in Africa, but in the west of the continent their niche is filled by..the Anomaluridae or scaly-tailed squirrels.
C2.
scaly-bark n. (also scaly-bark hickory) the shagbark hickory, Carya ovata, or its edible nuts; cf. hickory n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > North American trees or shrubs > [noun] > hickory
pohickory1644
pignut1666
hickory1670
hickory tree1682
shagbark1751
shell-bark1769
scaly-bark1775
swamp hickory1806
hognut hickory1810
kiskitomasa1817
water hickory1818
nutmeg hickory1832
king-nut1880
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > nut > [noun] > pecan
kiskitomas nut1750
pecan1761
pecan nut1762
scaly-bark1775
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > North American > hickory
pohickory1644
hickory1670
shagbark1751
shell-bark1769
scaly-bark1775
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > pecan or hickory > pecan or hickory tree > types of
shagbark1751
shell-bark1769
scaly-bark1775
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 360 Filberts..are as sweet and thin-shelled, as the scaly bark hiccory-nuts.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 63 Scaly bark hiccory.
1786 G. Washington Diaries III. 30 Spaded up some of the ground in my botanical garden for the purpose of planting the scaly bark hickory nut of Gloucester in.
1814 F. Pursh Flora Amer. Septentrionalis II. 637 This useful tree is known by the name of..Scaly-bark Hickory, on account of its bark, which is torn in loose fragments.
1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 332/1 Carya alba, white-shell-bark, shag-bark, scaly-bark hickory (Juglans squamosa, Michaux).
1852 M. Reid Desert Home 198 The tree is known among backwoodsmen as the ‘scaly bark’.
1893 Advance (Chicago) 23 Mar. A pretty young woman rings your bell to ask, ‘You all buy some scaly-barks?’
1906 ‘O. Henry’ Rolling Stones (1912) 8 I saw..a little flaxen-haired man with a face like a scaly-bark hickory-nut.
scaly-tail n. = scale-tail n. at scale n.2 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Anomaluridae (scaly-tail)
anomalure1876
scale-tail1888
scaly-tail1921
1921 Brit. Mus. Return 97 in Parl. Papers XXVII. 651 A West African Scaly-tail (Anomalurus erythronotus), and an Ituri Scaly-tail (Anomalurus pusillus).
1964 L. S. Crandall Managem. Wild Mammals in Captivity 229 The life-histories of the scaly-tails are not well known.
scaly-tailed adj. = scale-tailed adj. at scale n.2 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [adjective] > of or relating to rodents > of family Sciuromorpha > scaly-tailed
scaly-tailed1803
1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 400 Scaly-tailed scarus.
1962 M. Burton Syst. Dict. Mammals of World 121 Scaly-tailed Flying Squirrels..not related to true squirrels.
1964 E. P. Walker et al. Mammals of World II. 750/2 Scaly-tailed squirrels den in hollow trees.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1947
adj.1528- asymmetrous
- asymmetry
- asymphony
- asymptomatic
- asymptomatically
- asymptosy
- asymptote
- asymptotes
- asymptotic
- asymptotic freedom
- asymptotical
- asymptotically
- asynapses
- asynapsis
- asynaptic
- asynartete
- asynartetes
- asynartetic
- asynchronism
- asynchronisms
- asynchronous
- asynchronous transfer mode
- asynchronously
- asyndeta
- at a given moment