DSL - SND1 BLAB, BLEB , BLABE, BLEIB, Bleeb, v. 1, n. 2[blɑb, blɛb, bleb , bləib Sc.; bl&epsilonrtail;ib, blib,bleb Rxb.]1. v.
(1) To cause the face to swell with weeping. Now obs. in St.Eng., only Eng. quot. 1601 ( N.E.D.).
*Sc. 1721Ramsay Poems 149:
A Dutchess on her Velvet Couch reclin’d Blabs her fair Cheeks till she is almost blind.
(2) To besmear, beslobber (with dirt, food, etc.); to besprinkle ( e.g. with dew).
*Sc. 1808Jam. s.v. blob:
We still say that clothes are blabbed or bleb bed, when stained with grease’ or any thing that injures them.
*Abd. 2 1934:
Noo ye maunna bleb an’ blad that braw peenie ye’ve gotten on.
*Ags. 1879T. Ormond in A. L. Fenton Forfar Poets 141:
Her Sunday goun below the chin Was blabbed an’ bleared wi’ toddy, O.
*Gsw. 1877A. G. Murdoch Laird’s Lykewake, etc. 177:
O wildly there the blue-bells hang Their cups a’ blabb’d wi’ dew.
2. n.
(1) A drop of moisture, a bubble, a blot. N.E.D. gives blab, a bubble, as obs. except dial.
*Sc. 1808Jam. s.v. blob:
A blab of ink.
*Bch. 1924J. Wight in Scots Mag. (Oct.) 59:
Porridge, which throws up “blabs” or bubbles, which burst and emit steam.
*Ags. 1894A. Reid Sangs o’ the Heatherland 20:
O flow’ret, bloomin’ a’ alane, Wi’ een sae fu’ o’ bleibs o’ dew.
*Per. 1895R. Ford Tayside Songs 13:
You’ve seen the summer mornin’, lads, Come lauchin’ ower the lea’ An’ lichtin’ up the blabs o’ dew In ilk wee gowan’s e’e.
*Rnf. 1836R. Allan Poems and Songs 15:
An’ whan at morn the blabs o’ dew Clear as the siller hang.
(2) A blister. N.E.D. gives blab, a blister, as obs. except dial., and bleb , a blister or small swelling, in use up till 1876. Ofbleb , small blister, Un. Eng. Dict. says “rare.”
*Sc. 1808Jam. :
Bleib. A pustule, a blister. “A burnt bleib,” a blister caused by burning.
*Rxb. 1923Watson W.-B.:
Blabe (n., nw.). A blister; a pustule. ‡ Bleeb (n., w.). Also bleib (ne., s.). A blister on the skin, as by burning.
*Uls. 1880W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.:
Blab. A raised blister.
(3) “Bag of a honey bee” (Bnff. 7 1920).
*Uls. 1880W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.:
A bee’s blab, the little bag of honey within the body of a bee.
(4) In pl.: a rash.
*Lth. ,*Border 1808Jam. :
Bleibs. An eruption to which children are subject, in which the spots appear larger than in the measles.
(5) A blow.
*Mry. 4 1935:
I’ll gie ye a blab on the mouth.
[Imitative in origin. Cogn. with O.E. blāwan, to blow, hence to swell up, etc.]