Sc. and north. dial. [app. an intermediate form between FIKE and FIDGE.]
1. intr. ‘To move by slow succussations from one place to another’ (Jam.). Cf. FIDGE v.
1637. Gillespie, Eng.-Pop. Cerem., IV. viii. 35. They are so nettled therewith, that they fitch hither and thither.
1790. A. Wilson, Poems, The Pack, 63.
| A speakin’ Pack’s owre learnt for me | |
| Or ane that steers an’ fitches. |
2. trans. ‘To move any thing a little way from its former place’ (Jam.).
1892. Northumb. Gloss., Fitch that flake—remove that hurdle.
b. ‘To lift and lay down again, to touch a thing frequently’ (Jam.); = FIDGE v.
[1692. ‘J. Curate,’ Sc. Presbyt. Eloquence, iii. 99. This John [Simple] was ordinarily called Fitch-cape and Claw-poll, because in the time of Preaching or Praying he used to claw his Head, and rub his Callet.]
