English

Alternative forms

• skug
• scoug, skoog (Scotland)

Noun

scug ‎(plural scugs)

1. (Northern England, Scotland) shade, shadow.
2. (Northern England, Scotland) a shelter, a sheltered place (especially on the side of a hill).
3. (dialectal) a squirrel.
4. (dated, slang) A lower-school or inferior boy.
   • 1881, C. E. Pascoe, Everyday Life in our Public Schools, page 312:

     Scug, Et[on]. Har[row]. Negatively, a boy who is not distinguished in person, in games, or social qualities. Positively, a boy of untidy, dirty, or ill-mannered habits; one whose sense of propriety is not fully developed.

   • 1969, Ralph G. Martin, Jennie: the Life of Lady Randolph Churchill: The romantic years, 1854-1895, Prentice-Hall, page 54:

     A scug was an untidy, ill-mannered , and morally undeveloped boy, a shirker at games, bumptious and arrogant. If not naturally vicious, a scug was considered degenerate.

Verb

scug ‎(third-person singular simple present scugs, present participle scugging, simple past and past participle scugged)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, transitive) To shelter; to protect.
2. (Northern England, Scotland, intransitive) To hide; to take shelter.