What does vauch mean?
Vauch is an old Scots and northern English word for the cheek. It can refer generally to the side of the face or more specifically to the prominent part around the cheekbone, and it occurs especially in dialect speech, traditional verse, and descriptions of physical contact. In older Scottish usage, expressions involving the vauch could convey affection, playfulness, or the application of a blow, although the modern word on its own does not carry a fixed connotation. Because vauch has largely fallen out of everyday use outside dialect literature, a modern reader may encounter it chiefly in historical texts or in works imitating Scottish speech. It remains a vivid example of the rich vocabulary preserved by Scots, where distinct words exist for familiar parts of the body and for familiar actions.
nounA cheek, especially the cheekbone or the side of the face. The word is now archaic or confined to Scottish and northern English dialect use.
- The cheek or the area of the cheekbone.
"The muckle hare gave him a clout on the vauch."
"The cold wind whipped against my vauch."
"He caught her gently by the vauch."
The plural is rarely needed or attested in modern use; the plural form is chiefly inferable from the noun’s inflection.
"The cold struck their vauchs."
Once common in Scottish speech, “vauch” preserves the earthy sound of the language’s everyday body words.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vauch
Vauch developed within Scots and the older northern English dialect continuum. Its recorded form reflects a localized vocabulary for the cheek that was not carried into standard modern English, and it also appears in related northern usage alongside variants such as vaw.
How vauch is actually used
Chiefly Scottish and northern English in older usage; now uncommon in standard modern English. It is especially associated with vernacular and literary Scots.