sodn.1
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/ 1.
a. A piece or slice of earth together with the grass growing on it, usually square or oblong in shape and of moderate thickness, cut out or pared off from the surface of grass land; a turf. Also const. of (grass, turf, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > sod
turfc725
flagc1440
clot1460
soda1475
shirrel1513
ploud1535
peat1570
clod1594
roughhead1631
pare1651
scurf1708
flaw1811
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 6 Yf þy dysshe metes dere ben to salt, Kerve a grene sod..þou schalt, And kover þy pot with þo gresse done.
1483 Cath. Angl. 348/1 A Sodde, vbi A turfe.
1497–8 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 100 Pro cariag. 24 plaustr. de lez Soddez..usque Westorchard.
1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 2nd Pt. f. lvijv His owne clergye wold scarsely suffer hym to be buryed..vndre tyrfes or soddes of the grasse.
1577 R. Holinshed Hist. Eng. 61/2 in Chron. I She..mounted vp into an high place raysed vp of turfe and soddes.
a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) iv. i. 335 Old writers wittness that..for a monument they only raysed a turffe or greene Sodd of the earth.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 441 On sods of Turf he set the Souldiers round.
1703 R. Thoresby Let. 27 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 427 A turf, is thin and round, or oval..; a sod thick and square, or oblong mostly.
1817 C. Wolfe Burial Sir J. Moore in Edinb. Monthly Mag. June 278/1 We buried him darkly at dead of night, The sods with our bayonets turning.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Dolores in Poems & Ballads 350 Her temple of branches and sods.
1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 2/4 Yesterday the first sod was turned of the new school-room.
b. collective as a material.
ΚΠ
1826 T. Hood Irish Schoolmaster xii, in Whims & Oddities 125 His tears shall make his turfy seat More sodden, tho' already made of sod.
1827 W. Scott Highland Widow in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. viii. 161 The walls of sod, or divot, as the Scotch call it, were not four feet high.
c. Scottish. A piece of turf used for fuel; a peat.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > other organic fuels > [noun] > turf or peat
turfc1300
peat1333
turbaryc1450
turf1510
moor-coal1562
peat moss1775
bear's-muck1784
vag1796
breast-peat1802
gathering-peat1825
sod1825
bat1846
flight1847
mump1887
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Sod, a species of earthen fuel, used for the back of a fire on the hearth.
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xi. 81 [They] had availed themselves of ‘a het sod’ to light their pipes.
1897 D. Butler Church & Parish Abernethy v. 78 A lighted sod from the priest's house.
d. dialect and Mining. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [noun] > piece of
sod1854
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 263 Sods, square pieces of clay for draining, cut from ploughed land instead of turf.
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Sod, a clod: not necessarily turf.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 229 Sods, clay beneath coal seams.
2. Scottish and northern. In plural, two pieces of turf used as a substitute for a saddle or pack-saddle. Hence, a rough kind of saddle made of cloth, canvas, etc., and stuffed with straw. Frequently a pair of sods.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle > types of saddle
mail-saddle1360
trotter-saddle1381
panel1393
loadsaddle1397
packsaddle1398
limber-saddle1480
pillion1480
side-saddle1493
steel saddle1503
pilgate1511
mail pillowc1532
stock-saddle1537
pad1556
sunk1568
trunk-saddle1569
soda1586
mail pillion1586
running saddle1596
Scotch saddle1596
postilion saddle1621
pad-saddle1622
portmanteau-saddle1681
watering saddle1681
cart-saddle1692
demi-pique1695
crook-saddle1700
saddle pad1750
recado1825
aparejo1844
mountain saddle1849
somerset1851
pilch1863
cowboy saddle1880
sawbuck (pack)saddle1881
western saddle1883
cross-saddle1897
centre-fire1921
McClellan1940
poley1957
a1586 R. Maitland in Pinkerton Anc. Sc. Poems (1786) 322 For thai, that had gude hors and geir, Hes skantlie now ane crukit meir: And for thair sadils thai have soddis.
1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem (1751) 27 He had a lady Del To-Bose, Who never budged from his side; Upon a pair of sodds astride.
1707 G. Baillie Househ. Bk. (1911) 20 For a pair sods to Doctor St Clairs lady, £1. 16. 0.
1787 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. Sods, a canvas pack-saddle stuffed with straw.
1822 T. Bewick Mem. 24 I buckled him [a dog] up in a pair of old ‘sods’ which covered him beyond both head and tail.
1886 W. Brockie Legends & Superstit. Durham 39 (Heslop) To get her safely mounted behind him on a well girt pillion or sodds.
3.
a. The surface of the ground, esp. when turfy or grass-covered; the sward. Frequently poetic or rhetorical. Also North American, more generally, soil which is grass-covered; sward which has never been cultivated; the surface of a lawn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [noun] > grassland
wong971
greenc1225
clowrec1350
bentc1360
swarth?a1400
flaughtc1400
grassa1500
sward?1507
greenswarda1522
sward-earth1541
swarf1599
over-swarth1649
lawn1674
sod1729
swath1776
spine1786
swad1877
turfage1899
padang1909
(a)
(b)1745 Season. Advice Protestants 17 The strong Sod on the Earth, made so by various Composts.1810 E. D. Clarke Trav. Var. Countries: Pt. 1st x. 185 A..desolate plain, covered only by a thin sod, on which herds of cattle were grazing.1838 Ld. Clements Poverty Irel. 25 It consists, simply, in taking one or two crops of potatoes from the ley, or grass sod.(c)1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 47/1 (advt.) 1st class sandy land with substantial buildings. This irrigated land would produce excellent sod.1976 National Observer (U.S.) 12 June 5/2 Some Postal Service employes also think that ‘a lot of people don't want us to cross their lawns, tear up yards, and stomp holes in the sod.’1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 5 July 9- c/1 (advt.) 761 Acres cropland; 600 Acres former cropland, grassed; 800 Acres sod to break.1729 T. Cooke Tales 89 Here be my Dwelling on this native Sod.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 209 If I had but one fair trust with him upon the sod, I'd give him lave to brag all the rest of his life.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. xiv. 121 He bounds over the sod.
1820 P. B. Shelley Question 13 Tender bluebells, at whose birth The sod scarce heaved.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Palace of Art lxviii, in Poems (new ed.) 87 Mouldering with the dull earth's mouldering sod.
1878 in G. P. Lathrop Masque of Poets 12 A homely product of the common sod.
b. under the sod: dead and buried; to put under the sod: to kill. colloquial and dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective]
deadOE
lifelessOE
of lifeOE
storvena1225
dead as a door-nail1362
ydead1387
stark deadc1390
colda1400
bypast1425
perishedc1440
morta1450
obita1450
unquickc1449
gone?a1475
dead and gone1482
extinct1483
departed1503
bygonea1522
amort1546
soulless1553
breathless1562
parted1562
mortified1592
low-laid1598
disanimate1601
carcasseda1603
defunct1603
no morea1616
with God1617
death-stricken1618
death-strucken1622
expired1631
past itc1635
incinerated1657
stock-dead1662
dead as a herring1664
death-struck1688
as dead as a nit1789
(as) dead as mutton1792
low1808
laid in the locker1815
strae-dead1820
disanimated1833
ghosted1834
under the daisies1842
irresuscitable1843
under the sod1847
toes up1851
dead and buried1863
devitalized1866
translated1869
dead and done (for, with)1886
daid1890
bung1893
(as) dead as the (or a) dodo1904
six feet under1942
brown bread1969
the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)]
swevec725
quelmeOE
slayc893
quelleOE
of-falleOE
ofslayeOE
aquellc950
ayeteeOE
spillc950
beliveOE
to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE
fordoa1000
forfarea1000
asweveOE
drepeOE
forleseOE
martyrOE
to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE
bringc1175
off-quellc1175
quenchc1175
forswelta1225
adeadc1225
to bring of daysc1225
to do to deathc1225
to draw (a person) to deathc1225
murder?c1225
aslayc1275
forferec1275
to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275
martyrc1300
strangle1303
destroya1325
misdoa1325
killc1330
tailc1330
to take the life of (also fro)c1330
enda1340
to kill to (into, unto) death1362
brittena1375
deadc1374
to ding to deathc1380
mortifya1382
perisha1387
to dight to death1393
colea1400
fella1400
kill out (away, down, up)a1400
to slay up or downa1400
swelta1400
voida1400
deliverc1400
starvec1425
jugylc1440
morta1450
to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480
to put offc1485
to-slaya1500
to make away with1502
to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503
rida1513
to put downa1525
to hang out of the way1528
dispatch?1529
strikea1535
occidea1538
to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540
to fling to deathc1540
extinct1548
to make out of the way1551
to fet offa1556
to cut offc1565
to make away?1566
occise1575
spoil1578
senda1586
to put away1588
exanimate1593
unmortalize1593
speed1594
unlive1594
execute1597
dislive1598
extinguish1598
to lay along1599
to make hence1605
conclude1606
kill off1607
disanimate1609
feeze1609
to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611
to kill dead1615
transporta1616
spatch1616
to take off1619
mactate1623
to make meat of1632
to turn up1642
inanimate1647
pop1649
enecate1657
cadaverate1658
expedite1678
to make dog's meat of1679
to make mincemeat of1709
sluice1749
finisha1753
royna1770
still1778
do1780
deaden1807
deathifyc1810
to lay out1829
cool1833
to use up1833
puckeroo1840
to rub out1840
cadaverize1841
to put under the sod1847
suicide1852
outkill1860
to fix1875
to put under1879
corpse1884
stiffen1888
tip1891
to do away with1899
to take out1900
stretch1902
red-light1906
huff1919
to knock rotten1919
skittle1919
liquidate1924
clip1927
to set over1931
creasea1935
ice1941
lose1942
to put to sleep1942
zap1942
hit1955
to take down1967
wax1968
trash1973
ace1975
1847 A. Trollope Macdermots III. vii. 286 I've heard the boys say that he would be undher the sod that day six months.
1847 A. Trollope Macdermots III. vii. 288 A lot of boys swore together..to put him undher the sod.
1894 H. Pease Mark o' Deil i. 19 ‘Fear-nowt Charlie,’ who wes put under the sod, poor chap, a year come Michaelmas.
1972 K. Bonfiglioli Don't point that Thing at Me xviii. 159 Happiness is..being alive and wonderful-for-his-age when old so-and-so is under the sod.
c. (a) The Turf. Obsolete. (b) The surface of a cockpit (sense 1); the institution, practice, or action of cock-fighting, the cock-fighting world.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > as institution
soda1753
the turf1755
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > fighting between animals > [noun] > cock-fighting
cockfightingc1450
cockfight1512
cockingc1613
cocking matcha1619
cock match1654
alectryomachy1656
sparring1686
main1760
sod1814
alectoromachyc1820
spar1850
cock watch1879
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting or baiting animals > fighting between animals > [noun] > cock-fighting > cock-pit
cockpit1556
shrape1575
sod1912
gayelle1968
a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) II. xvi. 265 She had run on the Sodd several Years, had won some Plates of small Value [etc.].
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 161 He flourished at the gaming-house, and blazed on the sod.
1814 W. Sketchley Cocker p. iii The author having been attached to the sod at a very early period of life..he flatters himself that..his attempt at writing ‘The Cocker’ will be found to contain..instruction.
1840 D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rural Sports ix. i. 1208 His chief opponent was Potter, who was feeder for that veteran sportsman, the Earl of Derby, whose attachment for the sod continued unwearied.
1912 W. Gilbey Sport in Olden Time 41 So closely was the grass-covered pit associated with the sport, that ‘the sod’ bore to cocking the same significance as ‘the turf’ bears to racing.
1977 Verbatim Feb. 1/1 Although the cockpit is as remote from the lives of most of us as a brontosaurus wallow, our language has been richly endowed by The Sod, and few of us get through a single day without recourse to at least one phrase from the lexicon of cocking.
4. dialect.
a. The spot of ground on which one stands.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > tract > [noun] > on which one stands
groundc1530
sod1691
1691 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 67 I will dye upon the Sod; i.e. in the place where I am.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) (at cited word) I wish I may nivver stir of 't sod.
b. the (old) sod, one's native district or country; spec., Ireland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Europe > British Isles > Ireland > [noun]
Western Isle1557
shamrockshire1689
Teagueland1689
Wolfland1692
Green Island1797
Green Isle1812
the (old) sod1812
Paddyland1828
(is)land of saints1888
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > [noun] > homeland or native land
kithc888
etheleOE
erdOE
homeOE
motherOE
fatherlandc1275
countrya1300
soila1400
countrywarda1425
motherland1565
mother country1567
patrie1581
native1604
homelanda1627
home country1707
patria1707
old country1751
the (old) sod1812
home birth1846
Vaterland1852
old sod1863
motherland1895
Bongo Bongo1911
sireland1922
1812–13 P. Egan Boxiana I. 315 O'Donnel..was a native of Ireland, who left the sod at a very early period of his life.
1863 Mrs. Toogood Specim. Yorks. Dial. (MS.) He does not like to leave the old sod after having lived there so long.
1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail ii. 25 And did ye see ould Ireland lately?.. And how's the poor ould sod?
1892 W. G. Lyttle Life in Ballycuddy 12 (E.D.D.) A'll niver lee the auld sod again.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 19 To say too us to be every tim, nick and larry of us, sons of the sod.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake 194 Dry yanks will visit old sod.
a1953 E. O'Neill Long Day's Journey (1956) ii. ii. 80 Then before his father can react to this insult to the Old Sod, he adds dryly, [etc.].
1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man v. 35 I'll give you the jug to remember me when I'm gone from the ould sod, sacked in with some lovely French doll.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. In the sense ‘made, formed, built, or consisting of sods’.
a.
sod bank n.
ΚΠ
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 383 Sod banks cost, thirty-five years ago, 1s. 2d. a rood of seven yards.
sod cabin n.
ΚΠ
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xi. 232 He found the sod cabin.
sod-cloth n.
ΚΠ
1905 Tent Catal. (John Boyle & Co., N.Y.) No. 8. 15 Both grades are provided with sod cloth (mud walling).
1956 R. C. Evans On Climbing viii. 128 Round the bottom of the tent, on the outside, a foot-wide strip of cloth should run, the ‘sod-cloth’, on which stones and snow can be put to anchor the tent.
sod crop n.
ΚΠ
1848 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1847 539 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (30th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 54) VI This gave a sod crop without tending of thirty to forty bushels per acre.
1950 Jrnl. Illinois State Hist. Soc. Spring 37 They learned to plant a ‘sod crop’ by cutting upturned furrows with an ax, then dropping in a few kernels of corn.
sod-drain n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm I. 603 If the turf is tough, so much the better for the durability of the sod-drain.
sod ground n.
ΚΠ
1839 W. Sewall Diary 23 Aug. (1930) 207/1 Broke up the sod ground in the prairie up the hollow for a yard in which to make brick.
1871 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. 8 238 The sod ground of our prairie State.
1932 Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Va.) 4 Feb. 4/2 Sod ground is about all ploughed and some stubble ground also.
sod-house n.
ΚΠ
1832 Bubwith Inclosure Act 38 A certain cottage or sod-house.
1937 J. Ise (title) Sod-house days. Letters from a Kansas homesteader, 1877–78.
1948 B. G. M. Sundkler Bantu Prophets S. Afr. vi. 183 On the door of the sod house used as a church there is painted a green and white cross.
1977 Westworld (Vancouver, Brit. Columbia) May 6/2 There certainly was nothing like a sod house for being cool in summer and warm in winter.
sod-hut n.
ΚΠ
1869 Harper's Mag. June 25/1 A warmer abode than the sod hut..he will never have.
1896 W. D. Howells Impressions & Experiences 146 The dugouts or sod-huts of the settlers on the great plains.
1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. ii. 13 Ford built a six-roomed wooden cottage to replace the original sod hut.
1972 Science 19 May 747/2 While others were planning fancy facilities, Herzberg's helpers built a sod-hut similar to those used as homes by the early settlers of Saskatchewan.
sod-kiln n.
ΚΠ
1806 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 265 From these..sod-kilns, perhaps, were copied the shallowness and width of the present stone-kilns.
sod land n.
ΚΠ
1856 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1855: Agric. 262 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (34th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 12) VI They were mostly sown upon sod-land.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 11 Nov. 2/1 Anderson cautioned growers of wheat and flax not to break up sod or grass lands which are not adapted to continued cultivation and which would create erosion hazards in the future.
sod revetment n.
ΚΠ
1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. (ed. 2) ii. 247 Sod revetment, revêtement en gazons.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) III. 120 Sod revetments form a neat-looking slope.
sod seat n.
ΚΠ
1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches 21 For him sod-seats the cottage-door adorn.
a1835 J. Hogg Wool-gatherer in Tales & Sketches (1866) 72 Jane had sat down on the sod-seat.
sod wall n.
ΚΠ
1649 W. Grey Chorographia 2 Picts, who brake downe the Sodd Wall.
1780 in A. Young Tour Ireland i. 136 The sod walls, about 10 or 12 inches thick.
sod work n.
ΚΠ
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 209 The earth above the pebbles is to be retained by a revetment of sod-work.
b. In other uses.
sod-draining n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm I. 603 An imperfect form of wedge-draining is practised in some parts of England on strong clay soils, under the name of sod-draining.
sod-plough n.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2238/1 Sod-plow, a plow long in the share and mold-board, adapted to cut and overturn sod.
sod spade n.
ΚΠ
c1619 S. Atkinson Discov. Gold Mynes Scotl. (1825) 1 To use the arte of delving with the sodd spade.
C2.
sod widow n. (see quot. 1946).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > widow or widower > [noun] > widow
widowOE
lavec1325
widow woman1340
relictc1460
widow lady1525
widowess1596
maid-widow1655
feme sole1714
veuve1766
ace of spades1811
sod widow1927
1927 Amer. Speech 2 278 Sod (widow), husband dead.
1946 G. Stimpson Bk. about Thousand Things 349 A grass widow's husband was alive while a sod widow's husband was under the sod.
1973 Raleigh (N. Carolina) News & Observer 12 Mar. 34/2 Last but not least is our large number of widows (sod). There are 70.
sod-worm n. (see quot. 1891).
ΚΠ
1891 Cent. Dict. Sod-worm, the larva of certain pyralid moths, as Crambus exsiccatus, which destroys the roots of grass and corn.
C3. Objective, with agent-nouns and verbal nouns, as sod-soaker, sod-cutter, sod-builder; sod-cutting, sod-burning, etc.
ΚΠ
1796 W. Marshall Rural Econ. W. Eng. II. 32 Sodburning the more loamy soils,..would be a ready means of meliorating the herbage.
1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. (ed. 2) i. 357 Trousse-pas,..sod-cutter's spade.
1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. (ed. 2) ii. 247 Sod-builder, gazonneur.
1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Techn. Dict. French Lang. (ed. 2) ii. 247 Sod-cutter, écobue.
1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 99 If the grass and other sod-forming plants assert themselves.
1892 Daily News 7 Jan. 3/3 The sod-cutting ceremony of tomorrow.
1903 J. Fox Little Shepherd iv. 59 Send us, not a gentle sizzle-sozzle, but a sod-soaker, a gully-washer. Give us a tide, O Lord!
1953 Manch. Guardian Weekly 18 June 3/1 ‘Oh Lord, send us a sod-soaker and not a gully-drencher.’ The prayer of the prairie farmer is specific.
C4. Special combinations.
sod-crop n. U.S. (cf. sod corn n. 1).
ΚΠ
1878 Scribner's Monthly Nov. 133/2 The sod crop being often the settler's main or only reliance for the first year.
sod-plant v. transitive.
ΚΠ
1967 Agronomy Jrnl. 59 549/1 Removal of the rye immediately before sod-planting corn in the stubble lowered yields as compared to mulched crops.
sod-planted adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land raising crops > [adjective] > sown or planted
plantedc1450
well-planted1567
seeded1582
sown1647
cropped1840
sod-planted1967
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > [adjective] > sown > in unploughed ground
sod-planted1967
1967 Agronomy Jrnl. 59 548/1 Inclusion of the winter legumes..did not increase sod-planted corn yields.
sod planting n. Agriculture the sowing of seed in unploughed ground, herbicides being used to kill or control any existing vegetation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > sowing > [noun] > other systems of sowing
clovering1652
broadcast1796
plumping1844
undersowing1960
zero tillage1963
sod planting1965
1965 Proc. Southern Weed Control Conf. XVIII. 146 A second screening test was conducted in 1963 in connection with a new sod planting research program. The aim..was to develop a high producing summer grain or silage crop grown in a chemically controlled perennial sod which would return to productive pasture in the fall, winter and spring, maintaining a protective mulch cover at all times.
1967 Agronomy Jrnl. 59 550/1 The moisture conserving aspect of sod planting is most pronounced for droughts of short duration.
1978 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 78/2 Various reduced tillage systems are referred to as direct drilling, minimum tillage, no-tillage, sod planting,..depending upon the operations used, the crops grown, and the locale.
C5. With past participles, as sod-built, sod-roofed.
ΚΠ
a1807 W. Wordsworth Prelude (1959) viii. 296 The Woodman languish'd..Within his sod-built Cabin.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. i. 83 The rye-grass shakes not on the sod-built fold.
1891 E. Roper By Track & Trail iii. 37 Groups of ruined shanties, sod-roofed, bark-roofed, covered anyhow.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
sodn.3
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/ slang (originally British).
1. Chiefly derogatory and offensive. A man who engages in a form of sexual intercourse (esp. homosexual anal intercourse) characterized as unnatural or immoral, or otherwise culturally stigmatized. Also more generally: a homosexual man. Frequently as a term of abuse or contempt. Cf. sodomite n. 2.Quot. 1818 has been interpreted as an instance of sense 2a, but it seems more likely to belong here, as the context is one in which accusations of sodomy are being made.For more details on the forms of sexual intercourse that may be implied by this and related words, see note at sodomy n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > anal sex > [noun] > one who practises
sodomitea1387
sodomitic1510
buggerer?1534
sodomiter1534
bugger1540
sodomist1604
bougeron1632
sod1814
butt-fucker1972
1814 Proc. Old Bailey 6 July 306/1 He opened the flap of his smallclothes, took out the flap of his shirt, he then pulled out what he had; he asked me whether that would do for a woman; this man and his comrade came up, and..called him a b—y sod.
1818 Proc. Old Bailey 17 June 233 As he passed me he said the other was a b—y s—d.
1837 Minutes of Evid. Rep. Select Comm. Transportation 45 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 518) XIX. 1 Amongst the convict population, would the suspicion of a person having been guilty of unnatural crime excite abhorrence and detestation?—No..I have heard them jeer one another, such as calling one another ‘sods’.
1897 J. Flynt in H. Ellis & J. A. Symonds Sexual Inversion 254 In a gaol..I got acquainted with a tramp who had the reputation of being a ‘sod’ (sodomist).
1934 V. Woolf Let. 24 Jan. (1979) V. 273 I am writing about sodomy at the moment and wish I could discuss the matter with you; how far can one say openly what is the relation of a woman and a sod?
1949 W. Lewis Let. ?Mar. (1963) 484 When you come to write your book, its scene our day to day life, I should put in the sods. Sartre has shown what a superb figure of comedy a homo can be.
1992 Toronto Star (Nexis) 24 Oct. a12 The slogan under the picture was ‘sods and kikes out’.
2. Frequently with modifying adjective indicating the speaker's feelings towards, or opinion of, the person concerned.
a. As a general term of abuse or contempt for a person (originally a man), esp. someone irritating, difficult, or troublesome.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun] > as abused > male
bitch-sonc1330
whoresonc1330
bitcha1475
haga1529
conger1600
scarab1602
whore1609
scarabee1615
conger-head1630
bugger1694
sod?1835
?1835 Secret Songster 5 She stamp'd and tore, she squall'd and swore, And call'd the svell a sod.
1879 Harlequin Prince Cherrytop 26 You'd best begin your prayers, you spiteful sod.
1931 K. O'Brien Without my Cloak iii. xi. 380 That auld sod of a husband making her black and blue every night of his filthy life.
1942 G. Kersh Nine Lives Bill Nelson x. 61 There are plenty of sods in this battalion that get their pleasure by exercising their two-penny-ha'penny authority.
1968 J. Braine Crying Game i. 18 It's time he was dead... If you want to destroy the sod, Frank, I'll give you absolutely all the dirt.
2003 C. Birch Turn again Home xxix. 315 ‘That's my toothbrush you're using,’ Eva was saying. ‘Well, you never bloody use it anyway.’‘You cheeky sod!’
2016 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 13 May 12 I wish I could get hold of the dirty sod who lets their dog poo on my driveway.
b. Familiarly or playfully: expressing affection, commiseration, etc., for a person or (less commonly) an animal.The precise meaning in quot. 1911 is unclear, and it is not certain that it belongs here.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun] > vulgar term of endearment
prick1540
bird's-nie1650
sod1911
hoor1965
1911 J. Masefield in Eng. Rev. Oct. 394 They went, and some cried, ‘Good old sod.’ ‘She put it to him straight, by God.’
1931 W. V. Tilsley Other Ranks 12 Lucky sods, getting this far and then going back.
1942 T. Rattigan Flare Path iii. 164 Johnny, you old sod! Is it really you?
1958 ‘E. O'Conner’ Steak for Breakfast 28 Good on yer, Martha, yer old sod!
1969 D. Wallace Turtle xiv. 148 That's a shame, the poor little dawg, but if that was moine I'd hev that put down. That can't help but make no end o' work, the poor little sod.
1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 16 Aug. 31/7 And when they do, these lucky sods will forget years of fish-fib training and head pell mell for shore, seeking, of all things, the truth.
2001 M. Steel Reasons to be Cheerful vi. 72 These other poor sods will have to stay here.
2016 Sun (Nexis) 16 Jan. 62 That Wayne Rooney's a lucky sod. Three hundred grand a week and Saturdays off.
3.
a. As predicate, with to and infinitive. Something which is difficult, awkward, etc., to deal with, manage, etc. Cf. bugger n.1 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > that which is difficult > a difficult thing or person
sluta1475
nut1540
Tartar1669
bitch1699
handful1755
tickler1825
pebble1829
hard ticket1847
tough nut1862
bear1876
Roger1885
trier1893
peb1903
heller1923
pawful1925
honey1932
sod1936
toughie1945
motherfucker1948
hard-arse1966
1936 ‘G. Orwell’ Keep Aspidistra Flying i. 11 ‘Bare’ is a sod to ‘rhyme’; however, there's always ‘air’.
1977 Hot Car Oct. 59/2 The finish will be a nice satin which is a sod to keep clean.
2015 Times (Nexis) 21 Mar. These [sc. silk shirts] are, of course, an absolute sod to maintain.
b. An annoying or trying experience, task, etc.; a great nuisance. Cf. bugger n.1 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > [noun] > that which is difficult > a difficult matter
business1827
sod1940
cruncher1947
ball-breaker1950
nutcracker1960
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > [noun] > cause of annoyance or vexation
thornc1230
dreicha1275
painc1375
cumbrance1377
diseasec1386
a hair in one's necka1450
molestationc1460
incommodity?a1475
melancholya1475
ensoigne1477
annoyance1502
traik1513
incommode1518
corsie1548
eyesore1548
fashery1558
cross1573
spite1577
corrosive1578
wasp1588
cumber1589
infliction1590
gall1591
distaste1602
plague1604
rub1642
disaccommodation1645
disgust1654
annoyment1659
bogle1663
rubber1699
noyancea1715
chagrins1716
ruffle1718
fasha1796
nuisance1814
vex1815
drag1857
bugbear1880
nark1918
pain in the neck (also arse, bum, etc.)1933
sod1940
chizz1953
1940 P. Larkin Let. 9 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 3 I arrived here latish on Saturday night after a sod of a journey, tired & worn.
1950 C. MacInnes To Victors the Spoils i. 84 It'd be a sod if they got through to the Meuse.
1971 V. Canning Firecrest i. 3 At least..he'd seen them come back, though it was a sod he'd missed them going off.
2016 Guardian (Nexis) 11 May While it's true to say that rewriting something never takes as long as it did the first time round, it's still an utter sod.
4. In various dismissive (and chiefly negative) constructions, as not to give a sod, not to matter a sod, etc. Cf. give v. 9d, damn n. Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > indifference > [verb (intransitive)]
to put in no chaloir1477
not to care1490
to let the world wag (as it will)c1525
not to care a chip1556
to hang loose (to)1591
(to bid, care, give) a fig, or fig's end for1632
not to careor matter a farthing1647
not to care a doit1660
(not) to care twopencea1744
not to give a curse (also damn)1763
not to care a dump1821
not to care beans1833
not to care a darn1840
not to give a darn1840
not to care a straw (two, three straws)1861
not to care (also give) a whoop1867
(to care) not a fouter1871
not to care (or give) a toss1876
not to give (also care) a fuck1879
je m'en fiche1889
not to care a dit(e)1907
je m'en fous1918
not to give a shit1918
to pay no nevermind1946
not to give a sod1949
not to give (also care) a monkey's (fuck)1960
not to give a stuff1974
1949 P. H. Newby Snow Pasture iv. 97 I don' give a sod if ew're old King Cole.
1959 A. Sillitoe Loneliness of Long-distance Runner 13 If I..put my bet on a hoss I didn't know, had never seen, and didn't care a sod if I ever did see.
1969 R. Haley Saturday People xiv. 171 I just hope she didn't think it mattered a sod to me when she pissed off.
2001 D. Ferguson No Carrot 34 I wouldn't break the rules because I was standing by what was fair and right whereas he didn't give a sod.
2014 New Statesman (Nexis) 1 May He really didn't give a sod about the personality side of politics.
Phrases
Categories »
P1. odds and sods: see odds n. 7b.
P2.
Sod's Law n. [humorously after Murphy's Law n., with the first element used as if a surname] a supposed law of nature according to which, for any given situation, the worst of possible outcomes will inevitably occur; cf. Murphy's Law n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > self-evident truth, axiom > [noun] > of negative events
Murphy's Law1951
law of averages1961
Sod's Law1963
the mind > will > decision > obstinacy or stubbornness > [noun] > perverseness > Murphy's law
Sod's Law1963
1963 Instrument & Control Engin. July 11/2 The professor was explaining to his class that where there are two possible solutions to a problem, one right and one wrong, fate always seems to choose the wrong one. This phenomenon is known as Sod's Law.
1980 SLR Camera July 56/2 Even if you're using a masking frame this can easily overbalance. According to Sod's Law, that's going to happen when you're halfway through exposing a sheet of 20 × 16in colour paper costing the best part of £1·30.
2010 Independent 17 Aug. (Viewspaper section) 10/3 Isn't it just absolutely Sod's Law that, whatever you're trying to find, it's always in the last place you look?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sodn.4
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/, Scottish English /sɔd/ Scottish dialect.
The rock-dove, Columba livia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > genus Columba > columba livia (rock-dove)
rock dove1610
rock pigeon1611
sea-pigeon1620
blue pigeon1676
rockier1780
rocker1802
biset1834
rock1854
sod1885
tin-rock1892
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 168 Sod (Forfar).
1913 H. K. Swann Dict. Eng. & Folk-names Brit. Birds 220 Sod, a Forfar name for the rock-dove.
1973 Times 17 Feb. 14/8 How has the rock dove gained the title of ‘sod’?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sodadj.n.2
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/ A. adj.† 1. † b. twice sod, stale, unpalatable. Obsolete.† c. Of persons: Sodden, soaked, or steeped in liquor. Obsolete.
a. Of food, liquor, etc.: Boiled; prepared by boiling. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > preparation of drinks > [adjective] > boiled
sod1297
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [adjective] > boiling or boiled
sod1297
sodden1382
playing1440
boileda1475
coct1497
cocted1625
seethed1775
pred.
attributive.c1386 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋827 So thise shrewes ne holden hem nat apayed of roosted flessh and sode flessh.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 270 Sche let do sowe The lond with sode whete aboute.c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 42 Nym sode Porke & chese.1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. Q iij Sodde peres releue the stomake greued.1594 T. Lodge & R. Greene Looking Glasse sig. B4 Whay, Curds, Creame, sod milk, raw-milke.1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. Ee7 Rost and sodde meates.1658 J. Rowland tr. T. Moffett Theater of Insects in Topsell's Hist. Four-footed Beasts (rev. ed.) 898 Wool wet in sod or sweet wine.1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 9164 Þe bones hii bere Wel iselt & isode to þe abbeye of redinge.
a1400 Seuyn Sages (W.) 1574 Barli-water, that was i-sode.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 246 Flesh y-rostid, wych is more hottyr than..sode in watyr.
1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Comm. Notable Thinges in tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 309 Eating of those bodies which they had slaine, some sodde and some roasted.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. ii. i. 94 Beere, if it be..ouer strong, or not sod,..frets and gauls.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > unsavouriness > [adjective] > unpalatable
unsweetc1440
boisterous1483
untasty1566
untoothsome1576
twice sod1601
coarse1607
irrelishable1608
asper1626
insuave1657
untoward1662
physicala1665
asperous1670
unpalatable1682
woolly1687
inelegant1708
smoked1761
impalatable1782
brassy1789
soddena1800
metallic1800
inky1805
unsweetened1817
weedy1851
tinny1873
tangy1875
raw1881
unappetizing1884
twangy1887
stavy1888
toasty1890
soapy1892
stewy1895
gloppy1976
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [adjective] > boiling or boiled > overboiled
twice sod1601
soddena1800
1601 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor v. i. sig. K3 Is meate twise sod to you sir. View more context for this quotation
1608 G. Chapman Conspiracie Duke of Byron iv. i. 114 You make all state before Vtterly obsolete; all to come, twice sod.
1610 Bp. J. Hall Common Apol. against Brownists 98 You want variety, when you send in these twise-sodde Coleworts.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper ii. 130 The example doth so suite the Text, that I could not pretermit it here, though it be mentioned before: neither is it ‘coleworts twice sod’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > completely or very drunk
drunk as a (drowned) mousea1350
to-drunka1382
as drunk as the devilc1400
sow-drunk1509
fish-drunk1591
swine-drunk1592
gone1603
far gone1616
reeling drunk1620
soda1625
souseda1625
blind1630
full1631
drunk (also merry, tipsy) as a lord1652
as full (or tight) as a tick1678
clear1688
drunk (dull, mute) as a fish1700
as drunk as David's sow or as a sow1727
as drunk as a piper1728
blind-drunkc1775
bitch foua1796
blootered1820
whole-seas over1820
three sheets in the wind1821
as drunk as a loon1830
shellaced1881
as drunk as a boiled owl1886
stinking1887
steaming drunk1892
steaming with drink1897
footless1901
legless1903
plastered1912
legless drunk1926
stinko1927
drunk as a pissant1930
kaylied1937
langers1949
stoned1952
smashed1962
shit-faced1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
trashed1966
faced1968
stoned1968
steaming1973
langered1979
annihilated1980
obliterated1984
wankered1992
muntered1998
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Captaine iv. ii, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Gg3v/2 All the rest..are in Limbo patrum, Where they lye sod in sack.
2.
a. Of bread: Sodden. Also as n.: a damper (damper n. 6) that has not risen. Australian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > [adjective] > soggy or imperfectly baked
dough-baken?a1450
clammy1530
doughish1556
doughy1578
dough-baked1582
slack-baked1823
sod1836
soggy1868
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > loaf > [noun] > other types of loaf
white loafeOE
barley loafc950
French loafc1350
pease loafc1390
penny loaf1418
jannock?a1500
household loaf1565
boon-loaf1679
farmhouse loaf1795
cottage loaf1829
potato loaf1831
sod1836
Coburg1843
sweet roll1851
stale1874
Hovis1890
Sally Lunn1901
bloomer loaf1937
wholemeal1957
baguette1958
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 373/1 So that no part of the dough may form a sod or ill-raised bread.
1900–10 in G. A. Wilkes Dict. Austral. Colloquialisms (1978) 309/1.
1931 I. L. Idriess Lasseter's Last Ride v. 36 He made dampers so light that they were in danger of blowing away [and]..had not baked one ‘sod’ during the entire trip.
1957 R. S. Porteous Brigalow 206 His dampers were leaden sods.
1975 X. Herbert Poor Fellow my Country xvi. 838 I want to cook our own damper, too…don't want one of their sods.
b. sod oil n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > animal oil > other animal oils
seal-oil1732
Dippel's oil1819
lard oil1843
helicin1854
sod oil1883
1883 R. Haldane Workshop Receipts 2nd Ser. 367/2 The oil pressed out of the fermented skins is known as ‘sod oil’.
1885 A. Watt Art of Leather Manuf. xxvii. 341 ‘Sod oil,’ a greasy matter obtained in the treatment of sheep-skins.
B. n.2
† Boiled meat. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > boiled meat
soddena1400
sod1548
bouilli1664
boiled1804
trembling beef1806
New England boiled dinner1888
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Acapna thysia,..spoken of a simple feast, wherein is neither bake, roste nor sodde.
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount f. 33v You maye gyue hym roste and sodde with pottage of Amylum.
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood Epigram iii. sig. A5 Not that heele cloy him there with rost or sod.
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. G. Fracastoro Maidens Blush (1620) sig. Bv While hee is set-up with his Sod and Roast.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sodv.1
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/ a. transitive. To cover or build up, to provide or lay, with sods or turfs; to turf.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [verb (transitive)] > crop with grass or hay
turfc1430
sod1652
hay1708
meadow1768
to throw down1778
verd1778
grass1795
returf1824
stock1828
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved ix. 55 One good substantial Dike, well turfed (or sodded, as the Fen-men call it).
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. ii. xiii. 42 Those Terrasses must be supported..by some Banks that shall be sodded on purpose, to make them the more solid and lasting.
1704 Dict. Rusticum at Brick-making Sod, is to cover the Bricks.
1799 A. Young Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 159 Bind the femble into sheaves or beats. Cart it to dykes, sod it.
1839 T. Hood Storm at Hastings xxix We snatch'd up the corse thus thrown, Intending, Christian-like, to sod and turf it.
1889 Harper's Mag. Sept. 558/2 The slope was sodded and terraced with rows of seats.
b. Const. down, over, up.
ΚΠ
1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 368 A sorry mound of sods, with some bushes sodded down on top, to keep out sheep.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel II. 81 Made up of mud and stones and sodded o'er.
1870 Daily News 12 Nov. The..earthwork, so completely constructed as to have been sodded up with turf.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sodv.2
Now dialect.
1. intransitive. To become sodden or soaked; to stick together through wetness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > be or become very wet [verb (intransitive)] > become very wet
soga1552
sod1642
sodden1821
water-soak1899
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > be or become joined together [verb (intransitive)] > be or become closely, intimately, or permanently joined > cohere > through wetness
sod1642
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 3 The tree which hath long lien sodding in the ditch.
1644 G. Plattes in S. Hartlib Legacy (1655) 218 If Sand, whence comes its clamminess and aptness to sod together?
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 246 If the hay made of it sods a little in the wet,..it becomes tasteless.
2. transitive. To soak with wet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > condition of being or making wet > condition of being or making very wet > make very wet [verb (transitive)]
drenchc1000
washc1275
drowna1300
drunkena1300
drunka1382
bewetc1400
bedrenchc1450
bucka1513
sowp1513
drooka1522
sousea1542
soaken1577
overdrown1579
soss1587
embay1590
steep1590
overdrencha1592
embathe1593
indrench1593
imbue1594
douse1606
besob1609
bucket1621
sob1625
dash1670
sop1682
saturate1696
float1729
water1754
sodden1812
douche1864
poach1881
tosh1883
sod1895
1895 A. Patterson Man & Nature on Broads 125 Work on the land where wet grass an' rubbidge sod (soak) yer trowsers below.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
sodv.3
/sɒd/, U.S. /sɑd/ slang (originally British).
1. transitive. Chiefly derogatory and offensive. To engage (a person) in a form of sexual intercourse (esp. homosexual anal intercourse) characterized as unnatural or immoral, or otherwise culturally stigmatized. Also intransitive and in extended use. Cf. sodomize v. 2a. rare.For more details on the forms of sexual intercourse that may be implied by this and related words, see note at sodomy n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > anal sex > [verb (intransitive)]
sod1868
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > anal sex > [verb (transitive)]
bugger1560
sodomize1602
sod1868
bum-fuck1899
cornhole1920
ass-fuck1941
ream1942
rass1952
bum1970
butt-fuck1970
1868 tr. Martial Index Expurgatorius 63 Will you, Pannychus, do us the favour to tell Whose dogma it is to be sodded [L. percidi]?
1879 Pearl 1 156 My arse he can't sod Because I am troubled with Fistula.
1966 P. Mathers Trap ii. 31 Sodomist! And bugger! were the politest tags of that late afternoon. But Som never had sodded.
1982 I. Everton Alienation iii. 49 ‘Where do you think they've gone to?’ Peter asked. ‘Andrew's probably sodding him by now,’ Stephen said.
2.
a. transitive. In oaths and asseverations, expressing annoyance, hatred, dismissal, etc. Chiefly in optative with no subject expressed. Cf. bugger v. 2a, damn v. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [verb (transitive)] > euphemisms for stronger oaths > for 'damn'
ram1645
slama1658
dang1793
dash1800
drat1857
soda1904
dagnab1916
a1904 H. Latham in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1904) V. 605/2 [West Yorkshire] Sod him, he can go to ——.
1937 R. Bates Rainbow Fish i. v. 166 The gang would..say that if he was going to run out into the main channel now he ought never to have come into the bay. Sod them, let them say what they like; I'm running this ship.
1945 Penguin New Writing 23 51 Sod that, chummie.
1967 J. Wain Smaller Sky 170 ‘He'll come out,’ said Swarthmore. ‘And if he doesn't, we'll sit where we are and you'll get paid for a full day's work, with overtime if necessary, and you won't have to do a stroke.’ ‘I'd rather be at home,’ said the chief cameraman, ‘and sod the overtime. I'm definitely sickening for something.’
1971 B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 209 Quite a road! Sod me! I'll say it is!
2006 Racing Post (Nexis) 10 Aug. 109 Yeah, on reflection, you can sod your so-called adrenaline sports.
2015 M. Fletcher War Reporter 32 He'd tell Tom to switch it on and leave it on, sod the battery, they had plenty more.
b. transitive. sod it: (originally) expressing exasperation or frustration; (in later use especially) expressing resignation, or a decision to act indiscriminately, abandon one's scruples, etc.
ΚΠ
1953 P. Scott Alien Sky i. viii. 131 At seven-fifteen they had to go out to dinner. Sod it.
1984 ‘J. Gash’ Gondola Scam (1985) xxvii. 217 Okay, I thought. Sod it. In for a penny, in for a pound.
1998 Aberdeen Evening Express (Nexis) 4 Sept. 11 Now she goes and does it again and proudly announces she's going to be a grandmother. Sod it.
2015 P. Hawkins Girl on Train 261 He's forgotten his gym bag... Maybe he just thought, sod it, and decided to go to the pub instead.
Phrasal verbs
With adverbs in specialized senses. to sod off
1. intransitive. To go away, depart. Frequently in imperative. Also used more generally to express hostility or (aggressive) dismissal on the part of the speaker.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)]
wendeOE
i-wite971
ashakec975
shakeOE
to go awayOE
witea1000
afareOE
agoOE
atwendOE
awayOE
to wend awayOE
awendOE
gangOE
rimeOE
flitc1175
to fare forthc1200
depart?c1225
part?c1225
partc1230
to-partc1275
biwitec1300
atwitea1325
withdrawa1325
to draw awayc1330
passc1330
to turn one's (also the) backc1330
lenda1350
begonec1370
remuea1375
voidc1374
removec1380
to long awaya1382
twinc1386
to pass one's wayc1390
trussc1390
waive1390
to pass out ofa1398
avoida1400
to pass awaya1400
to turn awaya1400
slakec1400
wagc1400
returnc1405
to be gonea1425
muck1429
packc1450
recede1450
roomc1450
to show (a person) the feetc1450
to come offc1475
to take one's licence1475
issue1484
devoidc1485
rebatea1500
walka1500
to go adieua1522
pikea1529
to go one's ways1530
retire?1543
avaunt1549
to make out1558
trudge1562
vade?1570
fly1581
leave1593
wag1594
to get off1595
to go off1600
to put off1600
shog1600
troop1600
to forsake patch1602
exit1607
hence1614
to give offa1616
to take off1657
to move off1692
to cut (also slip) the painter1699
sheera1704
to go about one's business1749
mizzle1772
to move out1792
transit1797–1803
stump it1803
to run away1809
quit1811
to clear off1816
to clear out1816
nash1819
fuff1822
to make (take) tracks (for)1824
mosey1829
slope1830
to tail out1830
to walk one's chalks1835
to take away1838
shove1844
trot1847
fade1848
evacuate1849
shag1851
to get up and get1854
to pull out1855
to cut (the) cable(s)1859
to light out1859
to pick up1872
to sling one's Daniel or hook1873
to sling (also take) one's hook1874
smoke1893
screw1896
shoot1897
voetsak1897
to tootle off1902
to ship out1908
to take a (run-out, walk-out, etc.) powder1909
to push off1918
to bugger off1922
biff1923
to fuck off1929
to hit, split or take the breeze1931
to jack off1931
to piss offa1935
to do a mick1937
to take a walk1937
to head off1941
to take a hike1944
moulder1945
to chuff off1947
to get lost1947
to shoot through1947
skidoo1949
to sod off1950
peel1951
bug1952
split1954
poop1961
mugger1962
frig1965
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (intransitive)]
scud1602
go scrape!1611
to push off (also along)1740
to go it1797
to walk one's chalks1835
morris1838
scat1838
go 'long1859
to take a walk1881
shoot1897
skidoo1905
to beat it1906
to go to the dickens1910
to jump (or go (and) jump) in the lake1912
scram1928
to piss offa1935
to bugger off1937
to fuck off1940
go and have a roll1941
eff1945
to feck off?1945
to get lost1947
to sod off1950
bug1956
to hit, split or take the breeze1959
naff1959
frig1965
muck1974
to rack off1975
1950 A. Baron There's no Home ii. 26 ‘You too?’ Fooks gave him a biscuit. ‘My name's Joe Muggins all right... Now sod off, the pair of you.’
1977 Observer 4 Sept. 14/2 I am simply waiting for the day when I can say ‘sod off’ to your institution.
2001 C. Glazebrook Madolescents 180 If you can't turn your hand to anything, you might as well sod off home.
2. intransitive. In imperative. As an expression of disbelief or scornful rejection of an assertion. Cf. to get away 1b(b) at get v. Phrasal verbs 1, to get lost at get v. Phrases 3l.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > disbelief, incredulity > expressions of disbelief [interjection]
to go toc1275
in good timea1470
Walker1811
to get off1818
this beats my grandmother1819
to go on1835
your granny!1837
to get away1847
I ask you1855
great guns!1875
sure1907
oh yeah1927
Aunt Fanny1928
go 'long1974
to sod off1976
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
1976 P. Cave High Flying Birds ii. 16 ‘Sod off,’ I said, ‘How can you call a glider a vehicle?’
2005 R. Nelson Getting it Now! iv. 79 ‘Who wouldn't be attracted to her?’ ‘I'm not,’ Rupert said matter-of-factly. Philip shot him a disbelieving look. ‘Sod off.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1a1475n.31814
n.41885adj.n.21297v.11652v.21642v.31868