skean dhu

[th oo, doo]

noun

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

Also skene dhu.

Origin of skean dhu

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for skean-dhu

Historical Examples of skean-dhu

Skean-dhu, a small dirk which a Highlander wears in his stocking.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Edited by Rev. James Wood
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

British Dictionary definitions for skean-dhu

skean-dhu

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