adv. Sc. [Of uncert. deriv.; possibly f. A prep.1 in + Norse beig, beyg, fear. In any etym. the final guttural must be accounted for.] ‘At a shy distance, aloof.’ Jamieson.
c. 1707. Auld Gray Mare, in Jacob. Relics, I. 69. Whene’er her tail play’d whisk, Or when her look grew skeigh, It’s then the wise auld man Was blythe to stand abeigh.
1787. Burns, III. 142. Town’s bodies ran, an’ stood abeigh, An’ ca’t thee mad.
