SCUMBERNOUN
the dung of a dog or fox; hence, filth, dirt ...1647 obs. exc. Eng. dial. VERB 1. of a dog or fox: to evacuate the faeces, to defecate; also said of a person ...c1400 obs. exc. Eng. dial. 2. to void ordure; also, to produce something foul; to foul with dirty liquid; to daub with soft dirt ...1596 obs. exc. Eng. dial. 3. of a bird: to discharge excrement ...1679 Eng. dial. ETYMOLOGY apparently aphetic from Old French descombrer (modern French decombrer) to relieve of a load FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1400 - "...boundes to scombre twyse..." From: The Master of Game, Edward of Norwich, c1400 EXAMPLE "...Where he and his Brother (that loves dauncing so well) scummerd out betwixt them an Epistle to the Readers against all Poets and Writers" From: Have With You To Saffron-Walden By: Thomas Nashe, 1596 SOURCES • The New and Complete Dictionary of the English Language, John Ash, 1795 • A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, James Murray, 1887-1933 • A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words, Walter W. Skeat, 1914 • Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Porter, 1895 • The English Dialect Dictionary, Joseph Wright, 1898-1905
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