clart meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

clart

noun

/klɑːt/

Etymology From Middle English *clart, found in the verb biclarten (“to cover or smear with dirt”). Cognate with Scots clart, clairt (“to besmear”), Scots clarty (“dirty”). Further origin uncertain.

A daub.

a clart of grease

Northern England, Scotland Sticky mud, mire or filth.

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 […].1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon:

Geordie, Derogatory A person who is unclean.

Geordie, Derogatory A fool.

Unwanted stuff; junk; clutter; rubbish; stuff that is in the way.

I need to get rid of all this clart. (Clearing unwanted items from a table top)

Derived terms: beclart, clarty

clart

verb

Northern England, Scotland To daub, smear, or spread, especially with mud, etc.; to dirty.

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 (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 43: