Obs. exc. dial. Also dial. collar. [? f. prec. vb.: cf. COLLY sb.]
1. Soot; smut; grime of coal; coal-dust. Cf. COLLY sb.
1675. Cotton, Poet. Wks. (1765), 194.
| And all his Collow, and his Soot, | |
| His Dirt, and Sweat, and Stink to boot. | |
| Ibid., 228. | |
| ’Tis a strange Thing, methinks, Apollo, | |
| This foul Thief, all smutch with Collow. |
1728. Woodward, Fossils, II. 3 (J.). Collow is the Word by which they denote black Grime of burnt Coals, or Wood.
1774. Pennant, Tours Scotl. (1790), II. 49. Collow signifying the dirt of coal.
1879. Miss Jackson, Shropsh. Word-bk., Collow, soot, such as is commonly seen on a firegrate, pots, or kettles.
1887. S. Chesh. Gloss., Collow, soot. Yur feece is all o’er collow.
2. (See quots.)
1847–78. Halliwell, Collar, smut in wheat. Kent.
1887. Kent. Dial., Collar, smut in wheat.
3. Collar-coal: see COLLY sb.1 3; collar-bags = 2.
a. 1800. A. Young, Ann. Agric., XVI. 311. Collar bags, or smut [in Kent].
