scot
noun
a payment or charge.
scot
1 American
[skot]
/ skɒt /
noun
History/Historical.
-
a payment or charge.
-
one's share of a payment or charge.
-
an assessment or tax.
Scot
2
American
[skot]
/ skɒt /
noun
-
Scots
plural
-
a native or inhabitant of Scotland.
-
one of an ancient Gaelic people who came from northern Ireland about the 6th century a.d. and settled in the northwestern part of Great Britain, and after whom Scotland was named.
Scot.
4
American
abbreviation
-
Scotch.
-
Scotland.
-
Scottish.
Scot.
1
British
abbreviation
-
Scotch (whisky)
-
Scotland
-
Scottish
Scot
2
British
/ skɒt /
noun
-
a native or inhabitant of Scotland
-
a member of a tribe of Celtic raiders from the north of Ireland who carried out periodic attacks against the British mainland coast from the 3rd century ad , eventually settling in N Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries
scot
Idioms
Commonly Confused
See Scotch.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of scot1
1200–50; Middle English < Old Norse skattr tax, treasure; cognate with Old English gescot payment
Origin of Scot2
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English Scottas (plural), from Late Latin Scottī “the Irish”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
ULA’s design means large losses may be heavily taxed while big gains go scot free.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2025
They want all the views to be on the victims and how awful we were, so they can go scot free.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2023
I don’t see why Edith must perpetually be punished for her indiscretions when everyone else gets away scot free.
From Slate ● Jan. 15, 2013
So either the wrongdoers got off scot free, or the SEC shouldn’t have brought the case it did against the company.
From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 10, 2011
And the big yeller dog that had caused all the trouble got off scot free.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
The Scot, who was appointed in October, said he had "been planning for a managerial change for eight or nine of those months" in the background.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Enter James Law, a Scot who had been recruited in 1868 by Ezra Cornell, the co-founder of the eponymous university, to join the faculty as a professor of veterinary medicine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
“The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it,” LIV chief executive Scot O’Neil said last week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
It is unclear whether the incoming head coach will be a Scot or foreigner.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
It could not be a problem she ever encountered, with her educated upper-crust vowels, but being a Scot, she sympathized with any distrust of the soft Southern English.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
"I'm married to a Bengali Scot. My son is going out with a Kurdish refugee."
From BBC ● May 31, 2016
Chardy converts with a superb point, pulling Murray all over the court before nailing a cross-court forehand past the Scot. 1-1 in the first, two breaks already.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 1, 2015
For the "rope" figure we may compare Scot. hempie, a minx, and obsolete Ital. cavestrolo, a diminutive from Lat. capistrum, halter, explained by Florio as "a wag, a haltersacke."
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley
Iohn Scot. vnto him out of other countries, as Asserius Meneuensis bishop of Shirborne, & Werefridus the bishop of Worcester, who by his commandement translated the bookes of Gregories dialogs into English.
From Chronicles (1 of 6): The Historie of England (6 of 8) The Sixt Booke of the Historie of England by Raphael Holinshed
E. brangled confused, entangled, Scot. brangle to shake, menace; probably a variant of wrangle, confused with brawl.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
In his most influential work, the Scots thinker united a set of economic precepts into a vision of human flourishing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
For his advocacy of English prose in the sweet and easy styles of Joseph Addison and Jonathan Swift, the Scots bookworm has been heralded as “a founder of the study of English in universities.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
When it came to the economic side of Scottish politics, both candidates expressed the view that some Scots – especially middle earners – are paying too much tax.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"The thing that surprised me was how early on there were these Scots and Irish marrying Native Americans," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
The Scots tried to carry out their part of the bargain, but in August 1648 their forces were defeated at Preston, and on 30 January the following year Charles I was executed.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
