scutch
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English *scucchen, from Anglo-Norman escucher, from Vulgar Latin *excuticāre.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
scutch (third-person singular simple present scutches, present participle scutching, simple past and past participle scutched)
- (obsolete, UK, Scotland, Northern England, dialect) To beat or whip; to drub.
- To separate the woody fibre from (flax, hemp, etc.) by beating; to swingle.
- 2005, John Martin, Warren Leonard, David Stamp, and Richard Waldren, Principles of Field Crop Production (4th Edition), section 32.10 “Processing Fiber Flax”, the title of subsection 32.10.3 “Scutching”.
- 1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff:
- His prey was more often the over-scutched huswives, the threepenny whores with well-whipped backs, both from the beadle and their own hot-blooded clients.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to strip off as the cuticle from the fibre
Noun edit
scutch (countable and uncountable, plural scutches)
- (countable) A wooden implement shaped like a large knife used to separate the valuable fibres of flax or hemp by beating them and scraping from it the woody or coarse portions.
- (uncountable) The woody fibre of flax or hemp; the refuse of scutched flax or hemp.
- 1897, Vincent J. Leatherdale, A Lady of Wales:
- the labourers went peacefully about their usual employments, some driving teams of ponderous horses at the plough, others burning scutch and brambles, the rubbish of field and forest.
- (countable) A bricklayer's small picklike tool with two cutting edges (or prongs) for dressing stone or cutting and trimming bricks.
- Synonym: scotch
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
knife-shaped tool used to separate woody fiber from flax or hemp
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Etymology 2 edit
From Irish.
Noun edit
scutch (plural scutches)