scutch

present singular third person scutches · participle present scutching · participle past scutched · past scutched

1. Northern EnglandScotlandUKdialectalobsoleteTo beat or whip; to drub.
2. To separate the woody fibre from (flax, hemp, etc.) by beating; to swingle.

   2005, John Martin, Warren Leonard, David Stamp, and Richard Waldren, Principles of Field Crop Production (4th Edition), section 32.10 “Processing Fiber Flax”, the title of subsection 32.10.3 “Scutching”.

   1 more example

   His prey was more often the over-scutched huswives, the threepenny whores with well-whipped backs, both from the beadle and their own hot-blooded clients.

   1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff

plural scutches

1. countableA wooden implement shaped like a large knife used to separate the valuable fibres of flax or hemp by beating them and scraping from it the woody or coarse portions.

   Synonyms: scutcher, swingle

2. uncountableThe woody fibre of flax or hemp; the refuse of scutched flax or hemp.

   the labourers went peacefully about their usual employments, some driving teams of ponderous horses at the plough, others burning scutch and brambles, the rubbish of field and forest.

   1897, Vincent J. Leatherdale, A Lady of Wales

3. countableA bricklayer's small picklike tool with two cutting edges (or prongs) for dressing stone or cutting and trimming bricks.

   Synonyms: scotch

plural scutches

1. A tuft or clump of grass.

plural scutches

1. alternativeAlternative form of skutch.