skirt
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ
Old Norse skyrtabor.
Middle English skyrte
English skirt
From Middle English skyrte, from Old Norse skyrta, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ. Doublet of shirt. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Skoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skørt (“skirt”), Swedish skört (“hem of a jacket”), Norwegian skjørt (“skirt”).
Inflected forms:
form: skirts
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: skirts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: skirting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: skirted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: skirted
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A separate article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower torso and part of the legs.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: "I like purple best," said Maida. "And old Schlegel has promised to make it for $8. It's going to be lovely. I'm going to have a plaited skirt and a blouse coat trimmed with a band of galloon under a white cloth collar with two rows of—"
gloss: A similar part of a dress or robe, etc., that hangs below the waist.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The petticoats and skirts ordinarily worn are decidedly the heaviest part of the dress ; hence it is necessary that some reform should be effected in these.
“It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”
Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.
I had sprung to my feet. I was speaking, and yet I had prepared no words. Tarp Henry, my companion, was plucking at my skirts and I heard him whispering, "Sit down, Malone! Don't make a public ass of yourself."
gloss: A loose edging to any part of a dress.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: A narrow lace, or a small skirt of fine ruffled linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty piece.
gloss: A petticoat.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A woman.
pos: noun
tags: countable
derogatory
slang
uncountable
examples: "Mate," said the Cockney, after we'd finished about half the bottle, "it comes to me that we're a couple o' blightin' idjits to be workin' for a skirt."
"What d'ya mean?" I asked, taking a pull at the bottle.
"Well, 'ere's us, two red-blooded 'e-men, takin' orders from a lousy little frail, 'andin' the swag h'over to 'er, and takin' wot she warnts to 'and us, w'en we could 'ave the 'ole lot. Take this job 'ere now--"
But I tell ya, I can't help but like a guy who wants to rescue some skirt he fell for.
gloss: Women collectively, in a sexual context.
pos: noun
tags: UK
colloquial
uncountable
gloss: Sexual intercourse with a woman.
pos: noun
tags: UK
colloquial
uncountable
gloss: A border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: here in the skirts of the forest, like fringe upon a petticoat.
I am a shadow now, alas! alas! / Upon the skirts of human-nature dwelling / Alone: [...]
That each, who seems a separate whole,
⁠Should move his rounds, and fusing all
⁠The skirts of self again, should fall
Remerging in the general Soul,
Is faith as vague as all unsweet: […]
gloss: A diaphragm, or midriff.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: To be on or form the border of.
pos: verb
examples: The plain was skirted by rows of trees.
The lofty mountains roſe faint to the ſight and loſt their foreheads in the diſtant ſkies: the little hills, cloathed in darker green and ſkirted with embroidered vales, diſcovered the ſecret haunts of kids and bounding roes.
The railway, which is single track throughout, skirts the left bank of the estuary of the River Colne, and was washed out over a length of about three miles.
gloss: To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
pos: verb
examples: skirt a mountain
An enormous man and woman (it was early-closing day) were stretched motionless, with their heads on pocket-handkerchiefs, side by side, within a few feet of the sea, while two or three gulls gracefully skirted the incoming waves, and settled near their boots.
As we skirted the shores of the Dornoch Firth, between Tain and Bonar Bridge, the views across the water to the Sutherland mountains were particularly fine in the early morning sunshine.
After Nanhsi, head into the hills again as you skirt Tsengwen Reservoir on a roller coaster of steep grades.
A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. […] This would also let high-speed trains skirt cities as moving platforms ferry passengers to and from the city centre.
I'd forgotten how scenic parts of the line are - the railway crosses a host of streams while meandering through meadows or skirting woodland.
gloss: To cover with a skirt; to surround.
pos: verb
examples: skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
gloss: To avoid or ignore (something); to manage to avoid (something or a problem); to skate by (something).
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
examples: Near-synonym: circumvent
skirt the issue
skirt the law
He skirted the issue of which parties to attend by staying at home instead.
To be clear: I’m not saying Katyal helped a large corporation skirt child slavery laws, I’m just saying that he is the sort of guy who is a typical Burning Man attendee these days: the establishment in a goofy hat.
Derived words: apron skirt
bedskirt
beskirt
bit of skirt
blow one's skirt up
blow someone's skirt up
blow sunshine up someone's skirt
blow wind up someone's skirt
chase skirt
circle skirt
cling to the skirts of
divided skirt
fender skirt
fishtail skirt
flippy skirt
foreskirt
golden skirt
grass skirt
hobble skirt
hoop skirt
hula skirt
lightskirt
matchbox skirt
maxiskirt
mermaid skirt
microskirt
midiskirt
miniskirt
outskirt
outskirts
overskirt
pelmet skirt
pencil skirt
pettiskirt
plateskirt
poodle skirt
prairie skirt
pro skirt
puffball skirt
rah-rah skirt
ra-ra skirt
red ring skirt
redskirt
riding skirt
saddleskirt
sailor skirt
scooter skirt
skapri
skirtboard
skirt chaser
skirt dance
skirt dancing
skirted
skirt flashing
skirtful
skirt guard
skirtini
skirtless
skirtlike
skirts and kidneys
skirt steak
skirt suit
skirty
skort
sprayskirt
tube skirt
underskirt
upskirt
waterfall skirt
unskirted
skirt around
skirter
skirting-board
skirtingly
sunskirter
Translations: