▪ I. † scad1 Obs. rare—0.
In 5 scadde.
A corpse.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 442/1 Scadde [Winch. MS. scaddo], cadauer. |
▪ II. scad2 Now dial. (Kent, Sussex, Lincs.: see E.D.D.).
(skæd)
Also skad.
[Cf. scag, skeg.]
A wild black plum; esp. the bullace, Prunus insititia.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. 110 Okes, Mastholmes, Skaddes [orig. pruno sylvestri], Pine trees, and Fyrre. 1736 Pegge Kenticisms (E.D.S.), Scads, black bullace; or a bastard damasin growing in the hedges. 1777 Jacob Plantæ Faversh. Index p. xxiii, Scad Tree, or Scad Plumb. |
▪ III. scad3
(skæd)
Also skad.
[Source unknown; app. originally used in Cornwall.
Cf. Welsh ysgadan herrings, Norw. dial. skad gwyniad, Sw. skädde flounder.]
1. The fish Caranx trachurus (Trachurus saurus), characterized by having its lateral line armed with bony plates, found abundantly on the British coasts and used for bait; also applied to other fishes of the genus Caranx and related genera (cf. mackerel-scad); the horse-mackerel.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 30 Of round fish [there are] Brit, Sprat, Barne,..Scad [etc.]. Ibid. 35 Some gutted and kept in pickle, as the lesser Whitings, Pollock, Eeles, and Squarie Scads. a 1672 Willughby Hist. Pisc. iv. xii. 290 Cornubiensibus a Scad. 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 225. 1845 New Statist. Acc. Scot. XIV. (Ross) 190 The common mackerel is numerous as is also the scad or horse mackerel. 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 231 The Scads, known in England as the ‘Horse-Mackerels’, appear to occur in all temperate and tropical waters. |
b. attrib., as scad mackerel, scad-net.
| 1803 Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 597 The Scad Mackrel. 1836 1st Rep. Irish Fisheries 167 The Skad-net is very similar to the Mackerel-net. |
2. U.S. (See quot.)
| 1882 Jordan & Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 432 Decapterus punctatus... Scad; Round Robin. |
▪ IV. scad4 Sc.
(skæd)
[Of obscure origin.]
A faint appearance of colour or light; a reflexion; a faint gleam.
| 1640 Rutherford Lett. (1664) 490 Yea it reflects a scad like the cross of Christ. 1788 Picken Poems 53 The wights, dispos'd for e'ening-fun, Flee frae the scad o' daylight. a 1800 Lord Douglas xii. in Child Ballads I. 102/2 It is but the scad of my scarlet cloak Runs down the water wan. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., Scades o' Licht, flares, or flashes of light. 1890 Service Notandums iv. 19, I took a veezy through the hoose by the scadd o' the lowe. |
▪ V. scad5 local.
(skæd)
[Cf. shad-salmon.]
The fry of the salmon.
| 1861 Act 24 & 25 Vic. c. 109 §4 All migratory fish of the genus salmon, whether known by the names..shed, scad, blue fin, black tip, fingerling,..or by any other local name. |
▪ VI. scad6 dial.
(skæd)
[Cf. Du. schadde grass, turf.]
A slab of peat; a tuft of grass.
| 1880 F. M. Peard Mother Molly iii, I kep un theer, and vather, he turned up the scads. 1906 Phillpotts Portreeve i. iv, Two and two the scads stood propped in pairs to dry. |
▪ VII. scad7 colloq. (orig. U.S.).
(skæd)
Also skad.
[Origin unknown.]
a. A dollar. Usu. pl. in sense ‘money’.
| 1858 Hutching's Mag. Aug. 85/2 Why he seed Bill and lifted him two scads. 1884 E. W. Nye Baled Hay 59 We have mercenary motives... We desire the scads. 1902 W. Harben Abner Daniel ix. 70 Ef he kin possibly raise the scads to pay the tax. 1909 Amer. Mag. Nov. 1 This land of our dads..is a dinger at nailing the scads. 1933 J. V. Allen Cowboy Lore iv. 154 He would deal for you both day and night Or as long as he had a scad. 1959 E. Pound Thrones xcvii. 22 Canute opposing Byzantium, 20 scads to the dinar, 100 scads to the mark (of accountancy). |
b. Chiefly pl. A large amount; ‘heaps’.
| 1869 Overland Monthly III. 131 A Texan never has a great quantity of anything, but he has ‘scads’ of it..or ‘Scadoodles’. 1904 W. H. Smith Promoters ii. 52 What did England do when she found she could raise scads of opium in India, but had no market for it? 1923 M. Watts Luther Nichols ii. iv. 214 The old girl surely did have it—scads of it. 1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. xvi. 176 And the pay? Skads of dough. Oodles and oodles of money. 1950 O. Nash Family Reunion 89 There's a scad o' things that to make a house a home it takes. 1956 ‘N. Shute’ Beyond Black Stump x. 297 It's water... Skads and skads of it, under Lucinda Station. Clear, cool water. 1977 D. Bagley Enemy xv. 121 He's installed a scad of microprocessors in that control board. 1980 Telegraph (Brisbane) 9 Apr. 53/6 They supply pay envelopes in scads to clients. |
▪ VIII. scad
obs. or Sc. form of scald.