quaw Sc.
(kwɔː)
Also 9 qua(a, quah.
[Of obscure origin, poss. repr. an earlier *quall: cf. quallmire and the forms cited s.v. quagmire.]
A quag, quagmire. Also quawmire.
| 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 837 (Laing) Lyk ane quaw myre. 1595 Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Vorago, a gulfe, or quaw-myre. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl., Quakinquaws—or Quaws, or moving quagmire bogs. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Quaa, quah, a marsh; a quagmire, or shaking bog. 1894 Crockett Raiders 167 Green, deceitful ‘quakkin-qua's’, covered with a scum that looked like tender young grass. |