clart
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English *clart, found in the verb biclarten (“to cover or smear with dirt”). Further origin uncertain.
Pronunciation
Noun
clart (plural clarts)
- A daub.
- a clart of grease
- (now Scotland, Northern England) Sticky mud, mire or filth.
- 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon:
- I’m but a county Surveyor,– not really at m’ best upon the grand and global type of expedition, content here at home, old Geordie a-slog thro’ the clarts […].
- (Geordie, derogatory) A person who is unclean.
- (Geordie, derogatory) A fool.
Derived terms
References
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
- A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896, [2]
- Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[3]
Verb
clart (third-person singular simple present clarts, present participle clarting, simple past and past participle clarted)
- (transitive, now Scotland, Northern England) To daub, smear, or spread, especially with mud, etc.; to dirty.
- 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), p. 43:
- Chris boiled water in kettles for hours and hours and then towels came down, towels clairted with stuff she didn't dare look at, she washed them quick and hung them to dry.
- 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), p. 43:
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɑː(ɹ)t
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Scottish English
- Northern England English
- English terms with quotations
- Geordie English
- English derogatory terms
- English verbs
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