▪ I. sull, n. Chiefly w. and s.w. dial.
Also 7, 9 sul, 9 zull; 7 soule, 8 sewl, 9 sole, sowle, zowl, zarl.
[repr. the stem of the oblique cases (sule, sulum, etc.) of OE. sulh sullow, or the later nom. sul, sūl. Somerset zill repr. OE. oblique syl(l for sylh (cf. sillow, etc. s.v. sullow).]
A plough.
| 1607 J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Plough 109 The Soule..that Instrument wherewith being fastened to the Oxen, the Husbandman rippeth up his land. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 36 The Sun and the Sull are some Husbandmens Soil. Ibid. 332 A Sull, a term used for a Plow in the Western parts. 1766 Willy in Complete Farmer s.v. Turnep, Ploughing the intervals with a small sull, drawn by one horse. 1791 W. H. Marshall W. England (1796) II. 276 The plowman carries, in the body of his sewl, a parcel of small rods. 1825 Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 86 Zull,..a plough. 1883 Hampsh. Gloss., Zarl (zaal), a plough. |
b. attrib. and Comb., as sull-breaking; sull-paddle = plough-staff.
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 331 A Sulpaddle, a small Spade-staff or Instrument to cleanse the Plough from the clogging Earth. 1766 Compl. Farmer, Sull-paddle, a plough paddle. 1791 W. H. Marshall W. England (1796) II. 276 A field..which has long been noted for sewl-breaking. |
▪ II. sull, v. U.S.
(sʌl)
[Back-formation from sullen a., adv. and n.]
intr. Of an animal, to balk; of a person, to become sullen or to sulk.
| 1869 Overland Monthly III. 127 A mustang..will both ‘sull’, (have the sulks) and ‘buck’. 1891 ‘O. Thanet’ Otto the Knight 29 The ox, he sulled,..an' Jim jes' guv 'im one on the head. 1902 Dialect Notes II. 246 Sull,..to hold a position with imperturbable obstinacy and a total disregard of surroundings, as a possum, or a hog in a corner. 1903 Ibid. 332 Sull,..to sulk; to balk. ‘My oxens sull whenever they get hot.’ ‘She is a quare child and sulls whenever she is contrairied.’ 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 87 ‘She sulling again, is she,’ Roskus said. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxv. 327 Do he ever come here drunk, remember he ain't human when he gits to sullin'. 1949 10 Story Western May 11/2 Tell them slow motion sons to keep them cattle comin' before this drive balks and sulls. 1959 W. Faulkner Mansion 10 All Frenchman's Bend knew Houston: sulking and sulling in his house all alone by himself since the stallion killed his wife four years ago. |
Hence (rarely) as n., a sulky fit, a ‘sulk’.
| 1972 E. Welty Optimist's Daughter ii. iv. 97 He's been in a sull ever since you married Judge McKelva and didn't send him a special engraved invitation to the wedding. |