Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as bulk.
  • A dialectal form of bolk.
  • noun The belly.
  • noun The trunk of the body; hence, the body itself.
  • A dialectal form of buck.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete The body.
  • noun Scot. Bulk; volume.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The belly.
  • noun The trunk or torso of the body, hence the body itself.
  • noun The carcass of a slaughtered animal.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English bouk, from Old English būc ("belly, stomach, pitcher"), from Proto-Germanic *būkaz (“belly, body”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (“to blow, swell”). Cognate with Scots bouk, bowk, buik ("body, carcass"), Dutch buik ("belly"), German Bauch ("belly, stomach"), Swedish buk ("belly, abdomen"), Icelandic búkur ("torso"). See also bucket.

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Examples

  • ` ` He has a look of auld Humphrey Ettercap, the tinkler, that perished in this very moss about five years syne, 'answered his superstitious companion; ` ` but Humphrey wasna that awfu big in the bouk.' '

    The Black Dwarf 1898

  • He may ken mair o't, either by villains on earth, or devils below --- I'll hae it frae him, if I should cut it out o 'his misshapen bouk wi' my whinger. '

    The Black Dwarf 1898

  • I alloo the sin itsel mayna be jist damnable, but to what bouk mayna it come wi ither and waur sins upo the back o '' t?

    Salted with Fire George MacDonald 1864

  • He has mair wit in his wee finger than ye hae in your hale bouk.

    The Proverbs of Scotland Alexander Hislop 1836

  • I have found that so many patients just sit there and nod their head as the Dr talks babbly bouk.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

  • "He has a look of auld Humphrey Ettercap, the tinkler, that perished in this very moss about five years syne," answered his superstitious companion; "but Humphrey wasna that awfu 'big in the bouk."

    The Black Dwarf Walter Scott 1801

  • By the grace o’ Mercy, the horse swarved round, and I fell aff at the tae side as the ball whistled by at the tither, and the fell auld lord took the Whig such a swauk wi’ his broadsword that he made twa pieces o’ his head, and down fell the lurdance wi’ a’ his bouk abune me.”

    The Bride of Lammermoor 2008

  • I was at the winding of the corpse; and when the bluid was washed off, he was a bonny bouk of man’s body.”

    The Bride of Lammermoor 2008

  • He may ken mair o’t, either by villains on earth, or devils below — I’ll hae it frae him, if I should cut it out o’ his mis-shapen bouk wi’ my whinger.”

    The Black Dwarf 2004

  • “He has a look of auld Humphrey Ettercap, the tinkler, that perished in this very moss about five years syne,” answered his superstitious companion; “but Humphrey wasna that awfu’ big in the bouk.”

    The Black Dwarf 2004

Comments

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  • A ley made of cow's dung and stale urine or soapy water, in which foul linen is steeped to cleanse or whiten it. --Dr. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary and Supplement, 1841.

    May 10, 2011

  • To cleanse it?

    May 10, 2011

  • Sure! See cleanse.

    May 10, 2011