▪ I. warsle, n. Sc. and north.
(ˈwars(ə)l)
[f. warsle v.]
A struggle, tussle; a wrestling bout.
| 1819 [Rennie] St. Patrick I. xi. 166 Though I had got a fell crunt ahint the haffit, I wan up wi' a warsle. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xix, They quarrelled, as you saw, on the St. Valentine's Even, and had a warstle. 1864 W. D. Latto Tam. Bodkin xix. 191 At length wi' a sair warsel he did get into the bed. 1869 A. Macdonald Love, Law & Theol. iii. 46 He had thrown him doun in a warstle. |
b. fig.
| 1792 Burns My Wife's a winsome wee Thing ii, The warld's wrack we share o't, The warstle and the care o't. 1862 in Hawick Archaeol. Soc. Trans. (1868) 40 The minister had a weary warsle wi' a wersh discource. 1888 D. Grant Sc. Stories 6, I canna say I'm sorry that the weary warsle o' life is sae nearly owre. |
▪ II. warsle, v. Sc. and north.
(ˈwars(ə)l)
Forms: 4–5 werstil, (5 werstle, -ssle, wyrstylle), 6 wersil, (virsle, worsill), 5 warstel, 6 warsill, 4–5, 8– warstle, 8– warsel, 6– warsle.
[Metathetic var. of wrestle v.]
1. intr. To wrestle (together, with an antagonist), to struggle (against an adversary).
| 13.. Cursor M. 3933 (Gött.) In hand he [Jacob] lahut an angel briht, Þat in handis werstild [Cott. wristeld, Fairf. wresteled, Trin. wrestleled] þai. c 1400 Brut 319 Oppon þe sond of the Scottyssh see..þere were sene ij. Eglez,..& cruelly & strongly þey foughten togider & warstled togider. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ii. iii. 224 Wytht hym wyrstyllyde the Angelle. c 1440 Partonope 2306 And thus they warsteled and stryvid sore. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 943 Som lappe, som werstild. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 493 To worsill or cast the stane, In all Ingland that tyme maik had he nane. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 468 To feght with God, and to ovircum him, as Jacob did in warsling with his Angell. a 1823 Twa Brothers ii. in Sharpe Ballad Bk. (1823) 57 They warsled up, they warsled down, Till Sir John fell to the ground. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxiv. 16 Quha with this warld dois warsill and stryfe, And dois his dayis in dolour dryfe. 1787 Burns Brigs of Ayr 79 He seem'd as he wi' Time had warstl'd lang. 1902 J. E. Wood Farden Ha' xiii. 242 It isna for us tae come tae grups wi' the facts o' oor lives; we must jist tak' them and no' warstle wi' them. |
c. trans. To wrestle with (an adversary). In quots. chiefly fig.
| 1790 Burns Scots Prol. 44 Ye'll soon hae poets o' the Scottish nation, Will..warsle Time, and lay him on his back. 1804 Tannahill Coggie iii, The puir man's patron coggie, It warsels care, it fechts life's fauchts. 1820 Hogg Winter Even. Tales I. 289 I'm sair cheatit gin some o' your warstlers dinna warstle you out o' ony bit virtue..that ye hae. a 1830 Twa Brothers ii. in Child Ballads I. 439/1 But gin ye come to yonder wood I'll warsle you a fa'. |
2. intr. To struggle, to move with struggle or effort (against, through, over, out of, up); also with advs., as by, on, out, over, round.
| c 1500 Lancelot 3384 The ded hors lyith virslyng with the men. 1553 Douglas's æneis xiii. iv. 82 Or like as that, on the house syde the snale,..Ane lang tyme gan do wersil [older text wrassill], and to wrele Thristand fast with thare feit, vnto the wale. 1783 Burns Death Poor Mailie 4 As Mailie..Was ae day nibbling on the tether, Upon her cloot she coost a hitch, An' owre she warsl'd in the ditch. c 1790 A. Wilson Loss o' the Pack, For aye the mair I warsled round and roun', I fand mysel' aye stick the deeper down. 1891 M. M. Dowie Girl in Karp. 231 Holes over my depth, but none but what I might have warsled out of. 1895 ‘Ian Maclaren’ Dr. of the Old School i. 34 Neither can you ‘warstle’ through the peat bogs and snow drifts for forty winters without a touch of rheumatism. |
b. transf. of an inanimate thing.
| 1788 Picken Poems Scot. Dial. 107 An' let him kiss the tear awa', That warsles doun thy charmin face. 1822 Galt Provost xxiv, The five poor barks, that were warsling against the strong arm of the elements. |
c. fig.
| a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlii. 9 Warsill, as it war against ȝour will, Appeiring angrie, thoght ȝe haif no yre. 1821 W. Sutherland Poems & Songs 32 Yet happy still, blest wi' content, They warsle through. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 116 A mickle share o' love we've had The warld as we've warsled through. a 1877 W. Chisholm Poems (1879) 62 Auld Time warsles by wi' slow an' laggin' wing. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xii, It was a driech employ, and praise the Lord that I have warstled through with it! 1895 A. M. Stoddart J. S. Blackie II. 233 He was sent to a tutorial class for a month or two, after which he was allowed to warstle through. 1901 G. Douglas House with Gr. Shutters xxii, Lots of young chaps, when they warstle through their Arts, teach the sons of swells. |
d. quasi-trans. To get (something out, up, on) with a struggle.
| c 1790 A. Wilson Loss o' the Pack, Ay! thae were days indeed, that gar'd me hope, Aiblins, through time, to warsle up a shop. 1887 Service Dr. Duguid i. xx, I..warsled on my claes. 1888 D. Grant Sc. Stories 72 That was a question that cost me nae little serious reflection an' prospection; but I warsled it oot in my ain min'. |
Hence ˈwarsling vbl. n. Also ˈwarsler, a wrestler.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. 340 Coryne..Of Cornewell first, had grete liking To cast þai carllis in werstling. Ibid. iii. 974 Off turnamentis or of justynge, Menstrailssy or gret wersslynge. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems l. 22 He hes att warslingis beine ane hunder. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 340 All kynd of games..as..lepping ryding and warsling. 1820 Warstler [see warsle v. 1 c.] |