skewer

[ skyoo-er ]
See synonyms for skewer on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a long pin of wood or metal for inserting through meat or other food to hold or bind it in cooking.

  2. any similar pin for fastening or holding an item in place.

verb (used with object)
  1. to fasten with or as if with a skewer.

Origin of skewer

1
First recorded in 1670–80; earlier skiver< ?

Other words from skewer

  • un·skew·ered, adjective

Words that may be confused with skewer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use skewer in a sentence

  • His companion replaced the bonnet on her head, where it lurched a little, by reason of insufficient skewering, as she got up.

    The Wizard's Daughter and Other Stories | Margaret Collier Graham
  • I think that marriage has become a social atrophy, and I never want to be guilty of irrevocably skewering two hearts together.

  • So are the other spadassinicides who dreamt of skewering a poor sheep of a provincial lawyer.

    Scaramouche | Rafael Sabatini
  • And she made a violent gesture with the saber as though skewering me upon its length.

  • Spoof was playing the game, but I wondered how many little yellow devils were skewering his heart.

    Neighbours | Robert Stead

British Dictionary definitions for skewer

skewer

/ (ˈskjʊə) /


noun
  1. a long pin for holding meat in position while being cooked, etc

  2. a similar pin having some other function

  1. chess a tactical manoeuvre in which an attacked man is made to move and expose another man to capture

verb
  1. (tr) to drive a skewer through or fasten with a skewer

Origin of skewer

1
C17: probably from dialect skiver

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012