scrod n also schrod*, scrad*, scraud, scrawd [phonetics unavailable]. DAE ~ (1856-), Cent 1 [New England]. Cp JOYCE 318 scraddhin 'anything small—smaller than usual [as a potato]; applied to a very small man'; DINNEEN scráidín 'small portion or article of food ... small herring.'
1 A small cod-fish or codling, esp for home consumption, fresh or lightly salted and partly dried; TOM COD. Also attrib.
1858 [LOWELL] i, 161 [She] urged him, modestly, to 'plase to make use o' the milk,' (which is quite a luxury among planters of the out harbors,) and of the 'scrod' and all her simple dainties. 1895 Christmas Review 12 [proverb] Spare the salt and spoil the 'scraud.' 1895 J A Folklore viii, 38 ~ in New England escrod, a fresh young codfish broiled. [c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 25 Scrawd—small fish split & corned and partly dried. 1909 BROWNE 259 [Barter Shops] even have a 'candy department,' to attract the younger members of the fishing community who deal in 'scrawds.' 1953 Nfld Fish Develop Report 53 It is suggested that a suitable differential be instituted between the price paid for green or raw fish of large size and that paid for scrod fish, i.e. fish 2 1/2 pounds or less in weight on a drawn or 'gutted, head-on' basis. P 243-57 ~ , also scrad, scrawd, small cod-fish, slightly salted and dried. P 133-58 Schrod. Very small split cod. 1963 TEMPLEMAN & FLEMING 47 Offshore cod or scrod and smaller sizes made up 6% of the total weight of cod caught in June but less than 1 % in September. T 36-64 That's only a tom cod. An' now, th' other one is a scrod, see—the right small [cod]. M 71-103 Tea on Sunday had a specialty of its own—fried scrawds (small partly dried cod), or fried salmon. 1972 MURRAY 226 Scrod was a name given a cod prepared in a special way. It was sprinkled with a little salt and left over-night. In the morning, it was washed and dried and perhaps hung on the line to dry. When it was ready for cooking, it was put in a pan in the oven with salt pork over it.
2 A child small for its age; a small person.
1968 DILLON 152 What a little scrawd he is! 1978 Evening Telegram 8 July, p. 30 She's only a scraud, but as the old people said, the nearer the bone the sweeter the meat.
