Sc. Also towt. [Origin obscure: cf. TOUT v.2]
1. A fit of ill humor; a transient displeasure; a pet.
1787. Shirrefs, Jamie & Bess, I. ii. Were he ay sae, he then wad ay be kind, But then, anither tout may change his mind.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xi[i]. He taks the tout at every bit lippening word.
1835. Carrick, Laird of Logan (1841), 76. Leezie was … discontented, and subject to bits o’ touts now and then.
2. A fit or slight bout of illness.
1808–18. Jamieson, Tout, towt, an ailment of a transient kind.
1823. Galt, Entail, II. ii. 12. It’s neither the t’ane nor the t’ither, but just … a bit towt that’s no worth the talking o’.
1831. Miss Ferrier, Destiny, lxxvi. The baby had a sad towt with its teeth.
1855. Mucklebackit, Rhymes, 219 (E.D.D.). She teuk the tout, near Galashiels,… She dee’d that vera nicht.
