scot
1 Americannoun
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a payment or charge.
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one's share of a payment or charge.
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an assessment or tax.
noun
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Scots
plural
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a native or inhabitant of Scotland.
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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.
abbreviation
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Scotch.
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Scotland.
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Scottish.
abbreviation
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Scotch (whisky)
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Scotland
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Scottish
noun
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a native or inhabitant of Scotland
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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
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
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Speaking to Sky Sports, the Scot also questioned whether the summer transfer window should remain open once the season has started.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 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
"We also extend our sincere thanks to all those who have cared for Scot and supported us throughout this ordeal," they said.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Scot James, 34, from Maesteg, Bridgend county, died in hospital on Sunday after the incident earlier in July.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 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
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"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
Calderwood's Hist. of the Ch. of Scot. p.
From The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning
Cad is for Scot. caddie, errand boy, now familiar in connection with golf, and caddie is from Fr. cadet, younger.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley
It comes, like Fr. cage, from Vulgar Lat. *cavea, and has a doublet kevie, whence Scot. cavie, a hen-coop.
From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Ernest Weekley
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
The Scots thinker did not invent many of the economic concepts in his most influential book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Scots Active say they patrol the streets to protect women and girls from sexual predators.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 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
When he played guid old Scots tunes, that was.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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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.