▪ I. tup, n.
(tʌp)
Forms: 4 tope, Sc. toupe, 4–6 tupe, 5–7 tuppe, (6 tuepe, touppe, towpe), 6–7 tupp, 6, 8–9 Sc. tip, 6– tup; 8–9 Sc. and north. dial. tuip (t{smY}p), teep, teap, toop.
[Origin unknown; chiefly Sc. and north. Eng. App. etymologically tōp, which would regularly give toop (tuːp) in north. Eng., and (t{smY}p) or (t{obar}p) in Sc.: cf. bóc, bōk, book, Sc. buik. (Skeat suggests that it may be a transferred use of Norw. and Sw. tupp ‘cock’, said to be the same word as top n.1).]
1. A male sheep; a ram.
| 13.. Ballad Scot. Wars xxvii. in Ritson Anc. Songs & Ball. (1877) 38 A Toupe sal stande agayn ay Bare. c 1340 [see tup-head in 2]. a 1400–50 Alexander 5566 Þai ware hedously hoge & horned as Tupis. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. viii. 77 The tuppe is chosun fair of altitude Ywombe[d] side. 1510 Stanbridge Vocab. (W. de W.) C v b, Aries, a tup or a ram. 1570 Levins Manip. 140/18 A Tip, shepe, aries. 1590 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 58 A touppe iijs viij{supd}. Ibid. 61 Seven towpes. 1594 Ibid. 118 Three tupes. 1600 Ibid. 123 Towe old tupps. 1653 Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 61 To run ful but, as rams, or tups, use to do, one against another. 1771 Usef. Proj. in Ann. Reg. 107/1 He sells no tups, but lets them at from 5 guineas to 30 guineas for the season. 1804 Scott Let. to Ellis 19 May, in Lockhart, Long sheep, and short sheep, and tups, and gimmers, and hogs, and dinmonts, had made a perfect sheepfold of my understanding. 1903 Times 12 Feb. 12/4 Heavy sheep 7½d. to 8d.; ewes and tups 6d. to 7d. |
b. transf. Applied to a person.
| 1652 Shirley Honoria & Mam. iii. i, Cuckolds' sconce, Or haven, to which all the tups strike sail. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. viii, The Ship being clear'd of Dingdong and his Tups. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T., Tup, a ram; figuratively a cuckold. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxvi, ‘He'll be a Teviotdale tup, tat ane’, said the chairman, ‘tat's for keeping ta crown o' ta causeway tat gate’. 1880 Eben. Smith Verses 68 Douce old tups. |
c. transf. (
a) A pavier's mallet. (
b) The head of a forge-hammer or steam-hammer. (
c) The falling weight of a pile-engine.
| 1848 ‘Tom Treddlehoyle’ Bairnsla Foak's Ann. 46 (E.D.D.) Little undersized munkeys, not much heigher than tups at thay knock boolders daan we i't street. 1873 Iron 5 Apr. 356/1 A 45-cwt. double-acting Nasmyth's steam hammer, with wrought iron tup. 1884 Building News 15 Aug. 242/3 Ram, tup, monkey, are names variously given by workmen to the block..which is let fall upon the head of the pile. 1907 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 9/5 The heavy ‘tup’ comes down smack! on the bar. |
2. attrib. and
Comb., as
tup-breeder,
tup-head,
tup-horn (in
quot. attrib.),
tup-mutton,
tup-seller;
tup-headed,
adj.; also
tup-eild, -eill a. Sc. [
eild,
geld,
yeld adjs.], of a ewe: barren;
tup fair, a fair or annual market mainly for the sale of rams;
tup-hog, a male lamb from its weaning till its first shearing;
tup-lamb, a he-lamb;
tup-man, one who keeps and supplies rams for breeding purposes;
tup running: see
quot.;
tup society, a sheep-breeding association;
tup-yeld, -yield a. = tup-eild.
| 1831 Sutherland Farm Rep. 82 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, In order to suit the market, the *tup-breeders preserved only the finest of their young store. |
| 1823 Farmer's Mag. 278 At the lambing time..there were found 99 *tup-eild ewes and gimmers. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 38 If she has failed being in lamb she is said to be a tup-eill gimmer. |
| c 1340 Peter & Paul 248 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 79/1 When þe heuede was smiten awaie, A *tope-heued on þe erde laie. |
| 1816 Scott Antiq. vi, Did you ever hear such an old *tup-headed ass? |
| 1591 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 30 Shepe remainynge in this parishe... At North Pittington a *tuppe hogge. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 38 After a lamb has been weaned, until the first fleece is shorn from its back..a female is called a ewe-hogg, a male a tup-hogg. |
| 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. iii, Twa *toop⁓horn-spoons down Maggie lays. |
| a 1772 Lisle Husb. (1757) 313 They used..to cut their *tup-lambs early within six weeks old. 1782 Burns Death Poor Mailie 43 My poor toop-lamb, my son an' heir. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 613 Tup-lambs are allowed to retain their full tails until a year old, in order to strengthen the back. |
| 1790 W. Marshall Midl. C. I. 429 Getting Rams, to be let out again to inferior *tupmen, as ram-getters. |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 100 *Tup-mutton..is always hard, of disagreeable flavour, and in autumn not eatable. |
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. T., *Tup running,..in Derbyshire, a ram whose tail is well soaped and greased is turned out to the multitude, any one that can take him by the tail and hold him fast is to have him for his own. |
| 1831 Sutherland Farm Rep. 82 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, To the surprise of the *tup-sellers..nothing could be sold [at the fair] but tups of coarse quality. |
| 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 309 In 1796 there was a new *Tup Society established at Lincoln, for the encouragement of breeding. |
| 1825 Jamieson, *Tup⁓yield, tup-eild, adj. |
▪ II. tup, v. (
tʌp)
[f. prec. n.] 1. a. trans. Of the ram: To copulate with (the ewe); also
transf. (
coarse slang), of a man: to copulate with (a woman).
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. i. 89 An old blacke Ram Is tupping your white Ewe. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 28 Those that have theire ewes tupped betimes. 1694 Motteux Rabelais v. (1737) 222 They will not be ridden, tupp'd, and ramm'd. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1108 Most of the ewes will be tupped during the second week the tup is amongst them. 1861 Times 16 Oct., Ewes are tupped on grass, have hay on the winter pasture in case of deep snow, lamb in the same field, and are also fattened off on grass. 1970 B. W. Aldiss Hand-Reared Boy 96 In Derbyshire's dull dorms... When lesser souls abused themselves, out-classed, Our Dancer, saint and patron, he upped and tupped the matron. 1976 R. Jeffries Two-Faced Death xviii. 210 You wouldn't tup her?.. Neither of us cut out for adultery. |
b. To beget (a lamb); in
quot. pass.| 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 307 The Lamb where it's tipped, and the Ewe where she's clipped. A proverbial Rule about Tythes; signifying that the Lamb shall pay Tythes in the Place where the Ewe was when she took the Ram, but the old Sheep where they were shorn. |
c. To put (ewes) to the ram.
dial.| 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 318 Mr. Skipwith of Alesby tups 1400 ewes. Ibid. 337 Little farmers, who tup under 60 ewes. |
2. intr. a. Of the ewe: To admit the ram.
b. Of the ram: To copulate. Also
transf.| 1549 Chaloner Erasm. Praise Folly F ij b, These old women..will euer yet haue this prouerbe (lyfe is lyfe) in their mouthes, still plaie the wantons, and still be tuppyng. 1614 C. Brooke Eglogues F vj b, Whiles thy Rams do Tup, thy Ewes do twyn. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 3 The tuppes goinge allwayes with them, some of the ewes will tuppe sooner, and some later. 1721 Kelly Scot. Prov. 306 Tip when you will, you shall Lamb with the Leave [= lave]. |
† 3. trans. To furnish with horns like a ram's;
cf. horn v. 2.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1608 Day Law Trickes i. i. A iv, She was my wife and by her meanes, my head Was fayrely tupt, and you will buy a Lanthorne: Bespeake my sconce, tis ready hornd and all. |
4. trans. and intr. ‘To but like a ram’ (J.).
| 1654 [see tupping vbl. n. below]. 1847–78 in Halliwell. 1876 Mid-Yorks. Gloss., Tup,..to butt. |
Hence
tupped (
tʌpt)
ppl. a.,
ˈtupping vbl. n. (also
attrib.).
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. iv. 89 Ramms taken for Gyants,..the Wethers bels for Drumms, and their taile clouts, their colours, their tupping and rutting for the maine Battalia. 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincoln. 318 Never give turnips to tupped ewes. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 599 A shepherd..has attentively observed the tupping, and marked the reckoning of every ewe. 1886 C. Scott Sheep-Farming 80 The ewes will have been marked at tupping-time for each week's lambing. |