Wiktionary

scutch

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English *scucchen, from Anglo-Norman escucher, from Vulgar Latin *excuticāre.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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scutch (third-person singular simple present scutches, present participle scutching, simple past and past participle scutched)

  1. (obsolete, UK, Scotland, Northern England, dialect) To beat or whip; to drub.
  2. 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
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Translations
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Noun

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Scutch (or swingle) (sense 1)

scutch (countable and uncountable, plural scutches)

  1. (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.
    Synonyms: scutcher, swingle
  2. (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.
  3. (countable) A bricklayer's small picklike tool with two cutting edges (or prongs) for dressing stone or cutting and trimming bricks.
    Synonym: scotch
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Irish.

Noun

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scutch (plural scutches)

  1. A tuft or clump of grass.
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