skean dhu

[ thoo, doo ]

noun

a small knife tucked into or worn against the top of a stocking in the full dress of Highland Scottish males.

Origin of skean dhu

First recorded in 1810–20, skean dhu is from Scots Gaelic sgian dhubh literally, “black skean”

Also skene dhu.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use skean dhu in a sentence

A wee bit clamsheuchar wi' my Lochaper axe, or a brog wi' my skean-dhu, will make them quate aneuch, my letty.
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, XXII | various
Skean-dhu, a small dirk which a Highlander wears in his stocking.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia | Edited by Rev. James Wood

British Dictionary definitions for skean-dhu

skean-dhu

/ (ˈskiːənˈduː, ˈskiːn-) /

noun

Scot a variant of sgian-dhu

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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