"stamp out, crush," 1825, earlier "make harmless for a time" (1798; a sense that derives from an uncertain reading of "Macbeth" III.ii.13), from scocchen "to cut, score, gash, make an incision" (early 15c.), of unknown origin, perhaps [Barnhart] from Anglo-French escocher, Old French cocher "to notch, nick," from coche "a notch, groove," perhaps from Latin coccum "berry of the scarlet oak," which appears notched, from Greek kokkos. Related: Scotched; scotching.
Scotch (adj.)
"of Scotland," 1590s, contraction of Scottish. Disdained by the Scottish because of the many insulting and pejorative formations made from it by the English (such as Scotch greys "lice;" Scotch attorney, a Jamaica term from 1864 for strangler vines).
Scotch-Irish is from 1744 (adj.); 1789 (n.); more properly Scots-Irish (1966), from Scots (mid-14c.), the older adjective, which is from Scottis, the northern variant of Scottish. Scots (adj.) was used in Scottish until 18c., then Scotch became vernacular, but in mid-19c. there was a reaction against it. Scotch Tape was said to be so called because at first it had adhesive only on the edges (to make it easier to remove as a masking tape in car paint jobs), which was interpreted as a sign of cheapness on the part of the manufacturers.
scotch (n.1)
1778, elliptical for Scotch whisky. See Scotch (adj.).
scotch (n.2)
"incision, cut, score, gash," mid-15c., related to scotch (v.).
双语例句
1. Egan crossed to the drinks cabinet and poured a Scotch.
伊根穿行来到酒柜旁，倒了一杯苏格兰威士忌。
来自柯林斯例句
2. He polished off his scotch and slammed the glass down.
他一仰脖喝完苏格兰威士忌，砰的一声把杯子放下。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Meat labelled "Scotch Beef" sells for a premium in supermarkets.
