Library / English Dictionary

SCOTCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Whiskey distilled in Scotland; especially whiskey made from malted barley in a pot still

Synonyms:

malt whiskey; malt whisky; Scotch; Scotch malt whiskey; Scotch malt whisky; Scotch whiskey; Scotch whisky

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("Scotch" is a kind of...):

whiskey; whisky (a liquor made from fermented mash of grain)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Scotch"):

Drambuie (a sweet Scotch whisky liqueur)

Holonyms ("Scotch" is a substance of...):

Rob Roy (a manhattan cocktail made with Scotch whiskey)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally)

Synonyms:

score; scotch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("scotch" is a kind of...):

dent; incision; prick; scratch; slit (a depression scratched or carved into a surface)

Derivation:

scotch (make a small cut or score into)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Avoiding waste

Example:

'scotch' is used only informally

Synonyms:

economical; frugal; scotch; sparing; stinting

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

thrifty (careful and diligent in the use of resources)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of Scotland or its people or culture or its English dialect or Gaelic language. In this sense, 'Scotch' is in disfavor with Scottish people and is used primarily outside Scotland except in such frozen phrases as 'Scotch broth' or 'Scotch whiskey' etc.

Example:

'Scotch' is in disfavor with Scottish people and is used primarily outside Scotland except in such frozen phrases as 'Scotch broth' or 'Scotch whiskey' or 'Scotch plaid'

Synonyms:

Scotch; Scots; Scottish

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Scotland (one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; located on the northern part of the island of Great Britain; famous for bagpipes and plaids and kilts)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a small cut or score into

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "scotch" is one way to...):

mark; nock; score (make small marks into the surface of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

scotch (a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

Example:

foil your opponent

Synonyms:

baffle; bilk; cross; foil; frustrate; queer; scotch; spoil; thwart

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "scotch" is one way to...):

forbid; foreclose; forestall; preclude; prevent (keep from happening or arising; make impossible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scotch"):

disappoint; let down (fail to meet the hopes or expectations of)

dash (destroy or break)

short-circuit (hamper the progress of; impede)

ruin (destroy or cause to fail)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

It was a narrow winding path through a thick grove of old Scotch firs; and Catherine, struck by its gloomy aspect, and eager to enter it, could not, even by the general's disapprobation, be kept from stepping forward.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Brissenden never arrived without his quart of whiskey, and when they dined together down-town, he drank Scotch and soda throughout the meal.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A Scotch half-breed took charge of him and his mates, and in company with a dozen other dog-teams he started back over the weary trail to Dawson.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It is a Scotch bow, I see, for the upper nock is without and the lower within.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What ship comes sailing home from India, and what English lady is this, married to a growling old Scotch Croesus with great flaps of ears?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

We had scarcely visited the various lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland and conceived an affection for some of the inhabitants when the period of our appointment with our Scotch friend approached, and we left them to travel on.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

As I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Thenceforward that was our one safety, and every strained situation was relieved by our introducing the name of the Scotch zoologist, when both our Professors would form a temporary alliance and friendship in their detestation and abuse of this common rival.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Elizabeth, easy and unaffected, had been listened to with much more pleasure, though not playing half so well; and Mary, at the end of a long concerto, was glad to purchase praise and gratitude by Scotch and Irish airs, at the request of her younger sisters, who, with some of the Lucases, and two or three officers, joined eagerly in dancing at one end of the room.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“When I left her in America,” she continued, “it was only because her health was weak, and the change might have done her harm. She was given to the care of a faithful Scotch woman who had once been our servant. Never for an instant did I dream of disowning her as my child. But when chance threw you in my way, Jack, and I learned to love you, I feared to tell you about my child. God forgive me, I feared that I should lose you, and I had not the courage to tell you. I had to choose between you, and in my weakness I turned away from my own little girl. For three years I have kept her existence a secret from you, but I heard from the nurse, and I knew that all was well with her. At last, however, there came an overwhelming desire to see the child once more. I struggled against it, but in vain. Though I knew the danger, I determined to have the child over, if it were but for a few weeks. I sent a hundred pounds to the nurse, and I gave her instructions about this cottage, so that she might come as a neighbour, without my appearing to be in any way connected with her. I pushed my precautions so far as to order her to keep the child in the house during the daytime, and to cover up her little face and hands so that even those who might see her at the window should not gossip about there being a black child in the neighbourhood. If I had been less cautious I might have been more wise, but I was half crazy with fear that you should learn the truth.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)