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===Pronunciation===
===Pronunciation===
* {{a|UK}} {{enPR|skû(r)t}}, {{IPA|en|/skɜːt/}}
* {{enPR|skû(r)t|a=UK}}, {{IPA|en|/skɜːt/}}
* {{audio|en|En-uk-skirt.ogg|Audio (UK)}}
* {{audio|en|En-uk-skirt.ogg|a=UK}}
* {{a|US}} {{enPR|skûrt}}, {{IPA|en|/skɝt/}}
* {{enPR|skûrt|a=US}}, {{IPA|en|/skɚt/}}
* {{audio|en|en-us-skirt.ogg|Audio (US)}}
* {{audio|en|en-us-skirt.ogg|a=US}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɜː(ɹ)t|s=1}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɜː(ɹ)t|s=1}}


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# An article of [[clothing]], usually worn by [[woman|women]] and [[girl]]s, that hangs from the [[waist]] and covers the lower part of the body.
# An article of [[clothing]], usually worn by [[woman|women]] and [[girl]]s, that hangs from the [[waist]] and covers the lower part of the body.
#* {{circa|1907}} {{w|O. Henry}}, ''The Purple Dress'':
#* {{quote-text|en|year=c. 1907|author=w:O. Henry|title=The Purple Dress
#*: "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—"
|passage="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—"}}
# The part of a [[dress]] or [[robe]], etc., that hangs below the [[waist]].
# The part of a [[dress]] or [[robe]], etc., that hangs below the [[waist]].
#* '''1885''', {{w|Ada S. Ballin}}, ''The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice'', Chapter XI:
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1885|author=w:Ada S. Ballin|title=The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice|chapter=XI
#*: 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.
|passage=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.}}
#* '''1891''', {{w|Arthur Conan Doyle}}, ''The Red-Headed League''
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1891|author=w:Arthur Conan Doyle|title=The Red-Headed League
#*: “It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”<br>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'''.
|passage=“It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”<br>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'''.}}
#* {{RQ:Doyle Lost World|passage=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."}}
#* {{RQ:Doyle Lost World|passage=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."}}
# A loose edging to any part of a dress.
# A loose edging to any part of a dress.
Line 32: Line 32:
# A [[petticoat]].
# A [[petticoat]].
# {{lb|en|pejorative|slang}} A woman.
# {{lb|en|pejorative|slang}} A woman.
#* '''1931''', {{w|Robert E. Howard}}, ''Alleys of Peril'':
#* {{quote-text|en|year=1931|author=w:Robert E. Howard|title=Alleys of Peril
#*: "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'''."
|passage="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'''."<br>"What d'ya mean?" I asked, taking a pull at the bottle.<br>"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--"}}
#*: "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--"
# {{lb|en|UK|colloquial}} Women collectively, in a sexual context.
# {{lb|en|UK|colloquial}} Women collectively, in a sexual context.
# {{lb|en|UK|colloquial}} [[sexual intercourse|Sexual intercourse]] with a [[woman]].
# {{lb|en|UK|colloquial}} {{cap|sexual intercourse}} with a [[woman]].
# Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
# The border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
#* {{RQ:Shakespeare As You Like It|III|2|text=here in the '''skirts''' of the forest, like fringe upon a petticoat.}}
#* {{RQ:Shakespeare As You Like It|III|2|text=here in the '''skirts''' of the forest, like fringe upon a petticoat.}}
#* {{RQ:Keats Lamia|poem=Isabella|stanza=XXXIX|page=68|passage=I am a shadow now, alas! alas! / Upon the '''skirts''' of human-nature dwelling / Alone: [...]}}
#* {{RQ:Keats Lamia|poem=Isabella|stanza=XXXIX|page=68|passage=I am a shadow now, alas! alas! / Upon the '''skirts''' of human-nature dwelling / Alone: [...]}}
#* {{RQ:Tennyson In Memoriam|XLVI|69|That each, who seems a separate whole,<br>⁠Should move his rounds, and fusing all<br>⁠The '''skirts''' of self again, should fall<br>Remerging in the general Soul,<br>Is faith as vague as all unsweet: {{...}}}}
# The [[diaphragm]], or [[midriff]], in animals<ref>{{RQ:Dunglison Medical Lexicon}}.</ref>
# The [[diaphragm]], or [[midriff]], in [[animal]]s.<ref>{{RQ:Dunglison Medical Lexicon}}.</ref>


====Usage notes====
====Usage notes====
Line 48: Line 47:
====Derived terms====
====Derived terms====
{{der3|en
{{der3|en
|light skirt|light-skirt|mini-skirt|riding skirt|skirt dancing|skirt suit|skirt-chaser
|apron skirt
|apron skirt|blow sunshine up someone's skirt|blow wind up someone's skirt|hula skirt|sailor skirt|scooter skirt
|bedskirt
|bedskirt
|beskirt
|beskirt
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|chase skirt
|chase skirt
|circle skirt
|circle skirt
|cling to the skirts of
|cling to the skirts of|waterfall skirt
|divided skirt
|divided skirt
|fender skirt
|fender skirt
Line 117: Line 117:
* Basque: {{t+|eu|gona}}
* Basque: {{t+|eu|gona}}
* Belarusian: {{t+|be|спадні́ца|f|sc=Cyrl}}
* Belarusian: {{t+|be|спадні́ца|f|sc=Cyrl}}
* Bengali: {{t|bn|স্কার্ট}}
* Bengali: {{t+|bn|স্কার্ট}}
* Breton: {{t+|br|brozh|f}}, {{t+|br|lostenn|f}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|пола́|f|sc=Cyrl}}
* Bulgarian: {{t+|bg|пола́|f|sc=Cyrl}}
* Burmese: {{t|my|စကတ်}}, {{t+|my|ထဘီ}}
* Burmese: {{t|my|စကတ်}}, {{t+|my|ထဘီ}}
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*: Cantonese: {{t|yue|裙|tr=kwan4}}
*: Cantonese: {{t|yue|裙|tr=kwan4}}
*: Dungan: {{t|dng|чүнзы}}
*: Dungan: {{t|dng|чүнзы}}
⚫
*: Hokkien: {{t+|nan-hbl|裙|tr=kûn}}
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|裙子|tr=qúnzi}}, {{t+|cmn|裙|tr=qún}}
*: Mandarin: {{t+|cmn|裙子|tr=qúnzi}}, {{t+|cmn|裙|tr=qún}}
*: Min Nan: {{t+|nan|裙|tr=kûn}}
*: Wu: {{t|wuu|裙}}
⚫
*: Wu: {{t|wuu|裙|tr=jjyn}}
* Czech: {{t+|cs|sukně|f}}
* Czech: {{t+|cs|sukně|f}}
* Danish: {{t|da|nederdel|c}}, {{t+|da|skørt|n}}
* Danish: {{t|da|nederdel|c}}, {{t+|da|skørt|n}}
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* Ido: {{t+|io|jupo}}
* Ido: {{t+|io|jupo}}
* Indonesian: {{t+|id|rok}}
* Indonesian: {{t+|id|rok}}
* Ingrian: {{t|izh|hame}}
* Irish: {{t|ga|sciorta|m}}
* Irish: {{t|ga|sciorta|m}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|gonna|f}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|gonna|f}}
* Japanese: {{t+|ja|スカート|tr=sukāto|sc=Jpan}}
* Japanese: {{t+|ja|スカート|tr=sukāto|sc=Jpan}}
* Kazakh: {{t+|kk|юбка}}
* Kazakh: {{t|kk|юбка}}
* Khmer: {{t+|km|សំពត់}}
* Khmer: {{t+|km|សំពត់}}
* Korean: {{t+|ko|치마}}, {{t+|ko|스커트}}
* Korean: {{t+|ko|치마}}, {{t+|ko|스커트}}
Line 164: Line 166:
* Lao: {{t|lo|ສິ້ນ}}, {{t+|lo|ກະໂປງ}}
* Lao: {{t|lo|ສິ້ນ}}, {{t+|lo|ກະໂປງ}}
* Latgalian: {{t|ltg|snuotine}}
* Latgalian: {{t|ltg|snuotine}}
* Latin: {{t|la|gunna|f}}
* Latvian: {{t|lv|svārki|m-p}}
* Latvian: {{t|lv|svārki|m-p}}
* Lithuanian: {{t|lt|sijonas|m}}
* Lithuanian: {{t|lt|sijonas|m}}
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* Maltese: {{t|mt|dublett|m}}
* Maltese: {{t|mt|dublett|m}}
* Maori: {{t|mi|paki}}
* Maori: {{t|mi|paki}}
* Marathi: {{t|mr|स्कर्ट|m}}
* Mongolian: {{t+|mn|банзал}}, {{t|mn|юбка}}
* Mongolian: {{t+|mn|банзал}}, {{t|mn|юбка}}
* Navajo: {{t|nv|tłʼaakał}}
* Navajo: {{t|nv|tłʼaakał}}
Line 176: Line 180:
* Norman: {{t|nrf|cotelle|f}}, {{t|nrf|cotillon|m}}
* Norman: {{t|nrf|cotelle|f}}, {{t|nrf|cotillon|m}}
* Northern Sami: {{t|se|vuolpu}}
* Northern Sami: {{t|se|vuolpu}}
* Norwegian:
* Norwegian:
*: Bokmål: {{t+|nb|skjørt|n}}
*: Bokmål: {{t+|nb|skjørt|n}}
*: Nynorsk: {{t|nn|stakk|m}}, {{t|nn|skjørt|n}}, {{t|nn|dos|f}}
*: Nynorsk: {{t|nn|stakk|m}}, {{t|nn|skjørt|n}}, {{t+|nn|dos|f}}
* Occitan: {{t+|oc|gonèla|f}}
* Occitan: {{t+|oc|gonèla|f}}
⚫
* Odia: {{t|or|ସ୍କର୍ଟ}}
* Old English: {{t|ang|scyrte|f}}
* Old English: {{t|ang|scyrte|f}}
⚫
* Oriya: {{t|or|ସ୍କର୍ଟ}}
* Papiamentu: {{t|pap|saya}}
* Papiamentu: {{t|pap|saya}}
* Persian: {{t+|fa|دامن|tr=dâman}}
* Persian: {{t+|fa|دامن|tr=dâman}}
* Plautdietsch: {{t|pdt|Rock|m}}
* Plautdietsch: {{t|pdt|Rock|m}}
* Polabian: {{t|pox|tåbat|m}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|spódnica|f}}, {{t+|pl|kiecka|f}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|spódnica|f}}, {{t+|pl|kiecka|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|saia|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|saia|f}}
Line 240: Line 245:
* Greek: {{t+|el|φούστα|f}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|φούστα|f}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|alj}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|alj}}
* Ingrian: {{t|izh|helma}}
* Interlingua: {{t|ia|gonna}}
* Interlingua: {{t|ia|gonna}}
* Irish: {{t|ga|sciorta|m}}, {{t|ga|íochtar}}
* Irish: {{t|ga|sciorta|m}}, {{t|ga|íochtar}}
Line 275: Line 281:
* Greek: {{t+|el|φουστάνι|f}}
* Greek: {{t+|el|φουστάνι|f}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|csaj}}, {{t+|hu|spiné}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|csaj}}, {{t+|hu|spiné}}
* Norwegian:
*: Bokmål: {{t+|nb|skjørt|n}}
* Ottoman Turkish: {{t|ota|اكسك اتك|tr=eksik etek|lit=short skirt}}
* Ottoman Turkish: {{t|ota|اكسك اتك|tr=eksik etek|lit=short skirt}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|kiecka|f}}, {{t+|pl|spódnica|f}}
* Polish: {{t+|pl|kiecka|f}}, {{t+|pl|spódnica|f}}
Line 287: Line 295:
{{trans-top|women collectively}}
{{trans-top|women collectively}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|hameväki}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|hameväki}}
* Norwegian:
*: Bokmål: {{t+|nb|skjørt|n-p}}
{{trans-bottom}}
{{trans-bottom}}


Line 299: Line 309:
* German: {{t+|de|Saum|m}}
* German: {{t+|de|Saum|m}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|szegély}}
* Hungarian: {{t+|hu|szegély}}
* Ottoman Turkish: {{t|ota|یاقه|tr=yaka}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|borda|f}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|borda|f}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|грани́ца|f}}
* Russian: {{t+|ru|грани́ца|f}}
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* Azerbaijani: {{t+check|az|yubka}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Azerbaijani: {{t+check|az|yubka}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Basque: {{t+check|eu|gona}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Basque: {{t+check|eu|gona}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* French: {{t+check|fr|jupe|f}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
* Georgian: {{t-check|ka|ქვედაკაბა}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Georgian: {{t-check|ka|ქვედაკაბა}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* German: {{t+check|de|Rock|m}}, {{t+check|de|Schurz|m}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
* German: {{t+check|de|Rock|m}}, {{t+check|de|Schurz|m}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
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* Luxembourgish: {{t-check|lb|Jupe|f}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
* Luxembourgish: {{t-check|lb|Jupe|f}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
* Mongolian: {{t+check|mn|банзал|sc=Cyrl}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Mongolian: {{t+check|mn|банзал|sc=Cyrl}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Norwegian: {{t+check|no|skjørt}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Persian: {{t-check|fa|دامن دوخت}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Persian: {{t-check|fa|دامن دوخت}} <!-- probably for definition 1 -->
* Portuguese: {{t+check|pt|saia|f}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
* Portuguese: {{t+check|pt|saia|f}} <!-- Was under "something resembling a skirt" -->
Line 345: Line 354:
# To be on or form the [[border]] of.
# To be on or form the [[border]] of.
#: {{ux|en|The plain was '''skirted''' by rows of trees.}}
#: {{ux|en|The plain was '''skirted''' by rows of trees.}}
#* {{quote-book|en|year=1769|author={{w|Firishta}}|tlr={{w|Alexander Dow}}|title=Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi|volume=I|publisher=P. and W. Wilson et al.|location=Dublin|page=iv|text=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.}}
# To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
# To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
#: {{ux|en|'''skirt''' a mountain}}
#: {{ux|en|'''skirt''' a mountain}}
#* {{RQ:Woolf Jacob's Room|1||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.}}
#* {{RQ:Woolf Jacob's Room|1||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.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=2013-06-01|volume=407|issue=8838| page=13 (Technology Quarterly)| magazine={{w|The Economist}}| title=[http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21578516-transport-new-train-technologies-are-less-visible-and-spread-less-quickly Ideas coming down the track]| passage=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. [&hellip;] This would also let high-speed trains '''skirt''' cities as moving platforms ferry passengers to and from the city centre.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|year=1950|month=January|author=Arthur F. Beckenham|title=With British Railways to the Far North|journal=Railway Magazine|page=6|text=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.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=2013-06-01|volume=407|issue=8838| page=13 (Technology Quarterly)| magazine=w:The Economist| title=[http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21578516-transport-new-train-technologies-are-less-visible-and-spread-less-quickly Ideas coming down the track]| passage=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. [&hellip;] This would also let high-speed trains '''skirt''' cities as moving platforms ferry passengers to and from the city centre.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=2020 November 18|author=Paul Bigland|title=New infrastructure and new rolling stock|journal=Rail|page=51|text=I'd forgotten how scenic parts of the line are - the railway crosses a host of streams while meandering through meadows or '''skirting''' woodland.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=2020 November 18|author=Paul Bigland|title=New infrastructure and new rolling stock|journal=Rail|page=51|text=I'd forgotten how scenic parts of the line are - the railway crosses a host of streams while meandering through meadows or '''skirting''' woodland.}}
# To cover with a skirt; to surround.
# To cover with a skirt; to surround.
#* {{RQ:Milton Paradise Lost|5|passage='''skirted''' his loins and thighs with downy gold}}
#* {{RQ:Milton Paradise Lost|book=5|passage='''skirted''' his loins and thighs with downy gold|year=1873}}
# To avoid or ignore (something); to manage to avoid (something or a problem); to [[skate by]] (something).
# {{lb|en|figurative}} To avoid or ignore (something); to manage to avoid (something or a problem); to [[skate by]] (something).
#: {{ux|en|He '''skirted''' the issue of which parties to attend by staying at home instead.}}
#: {{ux|en|He '''skirted''' the issue of which parties to attend by staying at home instead.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|author=Arwa Mahdawi|title=Why all the Burning Man schadenfreude? Where do I start ...|work=The Guardian|date=2023-09-05|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/commentisfree/2023/sep/05/why-all-the-burning-man-schadenfreude-where-do-i-start-|issn=0261-3077|passage=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 terms====
====Derived terms====
Line 425: Line 437:


# {{alternative form of|enm|skyrte}}
# {{alternative form of|enm|skyrte}}

==Swedish==

===Adjective===
{{head|sv|adjective form}}

# {{adj form of|sv|skir||indef|n|s}}

Revision as of 08:02, 29 August 2024

See also: šķirt

Englisch

Englisch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A skirt

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

Nomen

skirt (plural skirts)

  1. An article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body.
    • c. 1907, O. Henry, The Purple Dress:
      "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—"
  2. The part of a dress oder robe, etc., that hangs below the waist.
    • 1885, Ada S. Ballin, chapter XI, in The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice:
      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.
    • 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red-Headed League:
      “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.
    • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
      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."
  3. A loose edging to any part of a dress.
    • July 27, 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian no. 118
      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.
  4. A petticoat.
  5. (derogatory, slang) A woman.
    • 1931, Robert E. Howard, Alleys of Peril:
      "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--"
  6. (UK, colloquial) Women collectively, in a sexual context.
  7. (UK, colloquial) Sexual intercourse with a woman.
  8. The border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
  9. The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals.[1]

Usage notes

  • (article of clothing): It was formerly common to speak of “skirts” (plural) rather than “a skirt”. In some cases this served to emphasize an array of skirts of underskirts, or of pleats and folds in a single skirt; in other cases it made little or no difference in meaning.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Japanese: スカート (sukāto)
  • → Korean: 스커트 (seukeoteu)
  • → Malay: skirt
  • → Scottish Gaelic: sgiort

Translations

article of clothing
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

skirt (third-person singular simple present skirts, present participle skirting, simple past and past participle skirted)

  1. To be on or form the border of.
    The plain was skirted by rows of trees.
    • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:
      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.
  2. To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
    skirt a mountain
    • 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC:
      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.
    • 1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 6:
      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.
    • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):
      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.
    • 2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in Rail, page 51:
      I'd forgotten how scenic parts of the line are - the railway crosses a host of streams while meandering through meadows or skirting woodland.
  3. To cover with a skirt; to surround.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
  4. (figurative) To avoid or ignore (something); to manage to avoid (something or a problem); to skate by (something).
    He skirted the issue of which parties to attend by staying at home instead.
    • 2023 September 5, Arwa Mahdawi, “Why all the Burning Man schadenfreude? Where do I start ...”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      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 terms

Translations

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Translations to be checked

References

  1. ^
    1839, Robley Dunglison, “SKIRT”, in Medical Lexicon. A New Dictionary of Medical Science, […], 2nd edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lea and Blanchard, successors to Carey and Co., →OCLC:
    .

Anagrams

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

Etymology

From English skirt.

Nomen

skirt (plural skirt-skirt, informal 1st possessive skirtku, 2nd possessive skirtmu, 3rd possessive skirtnya)

  1. skirt

Further reading

Middle English

Nomen

skirt

  1. Alternative form of skyrte

Swedish

Adjective

skirt

  1. indefinite neuter singular of skir
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