Meanings
- ScotlanddateduncountableCompletion of the harvest season, harvesting the last sheaf of grain.
get clyack
finish the harvest
3 more examples
The “clyack” sheaf was cut by the maidens on the harvest field. On no account was it allowed to touch the ground.
1881, Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-east of Scotland, page 181Mr. Duff, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, tells me that in his part of Aberdeenshire there is a competition as to who shall have the last sheaf (the clyack sheaf) like that at Balquhidder, but with this difference, that the last corn left standing and hidden is cut by the reaper himself, not, as at Balquhidder, by the girl who followed binding.
1888, J.G. Frazer, “Folk-lore at Balquhidder”, in The Folk-lore Journal, page 270There are still a good many stooks about the hill sides, and Ardiecow managed to get clyack tonight.
2008 [c. 1892], James Wilson, edited by Peter Hills, Journal of My Life and Everyday Doings 1879-81, 1885-92, Volume 18 of Scottish History Society (series), page 188
Origin
- Scottish Gaeliccaileag
- Scotsclyack
- Englishclyack
From Scots clyack, which is in turn from Scottish Gaelic caileag.
More words from Scots, Scottish Gaelic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
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Cite this entry
clyack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyack
“clyack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyack. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clyack,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clyack.
Source: clyack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.