▪ I. ˈscumber, n. Obs. exc. dial.
Also 7 skommer, skomber, 7, 9 (dial.) skummer.
[f. scumber v.]
The dung of a dog or fox. Hence dial., filth, dirt.
| 1647 Hexham i, Skummer or filth, Schuym ofte ruyligheyt. 1655 Mennes & J. Smith Mus. Delic. (1656) 4 For here [Epsom] old Ops her upper face Is..safroniz'd with mortall scumber. 1671 Phillips (ed. 3), Scumber, (a Term in Hunting) the dung of a Fox. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. vii. 133/2 Terms..proper for the Ordure..of several Beasts... An Hound,..and all sorts of the Dog kind, its called, Skommer, or Skomber. 1825 J. Jennings Dial. W. Eng. 69 Skummer, a foulness made with a dirty liquid, or with soft dirt. |
▪ II. ˈscumber, v. Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: 4–5 scombre, 6 skammer, skom(m)er, 6–8 scummer, 7 scumer, 7–8 scumber, 7–9 (9 dial.) skummer.
[App. aphetic a. OF. descombrer (mod.F. décombrer) to relieve of a load. Cf. discumber v., of equivalent formation.]
1. intr. Of a dog or fox: To evacuate the fæces. Also jocularly of a person.
| c 1400 Master of Game xx. (MS. Digby 182), Also y will teche þe childe to leede þe houndes to scombre twyse on þe daye. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 113 Bettir thow ganis to leid ane doig to skomer..than with thy maister pingill. 1576 Turberv. Venerie 176 Lette him carie them home vncoupled, that they may skoure at large and skommer. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Chien, Tandis que le chien chie le loup s'en va: Prov. While the dog scummers the wolfe scuds away. 1656 Choyce Drollery 37 Beware of fire when you scumber. |
| fig. 1611 J. Davies Commend. Verses to Coryat's Crudities 49 And for a Monument to After-coommers Their Picture shall continue (though Time scummers Vpon th' Effigie). |
2. trans. To void (ordure); fig. to produce (something foul). Also dial. (see quot. 1825).
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden V 2, Where he and his Brother..scummerd out betwixt them an Epistle to the Readers against all Poets and Writers. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. lii, For four or five Days I hardly scumber'd one poor butt of Sir-reverence. 1819 Keats Let. to Haydon 3 Oct., I have not seen the portentous Book which was skummer'd at you just as I left town. 1825 J. Jennings Dial. W. Eng. 69 To Skummer, to foul with a dirty liquid, or to daub with soft dirt. |
Hence † ˈscumbering vbl. n., the excrement of a dog or fox.
| 1611 Florio, Schinchimurra,..a skummering of a dog. 1817 J. Mayer Sportsman's Direct. (ed. 2) 203 You may know if it is a good scenting day, by the smoke and strong scent of their scummerings. |