skirt
Americannoun
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the part of a gown, dress, slip, or coat that extends downward from the waist.
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a one-piece garment extending downward from the waist and not joined between the legs, worn especially by women and girls.
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some part resembling or suggesting the skirt of a garment, as the flared lip of a bell or a protective and ornamental cloth strip covering the legs of furniture.
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a small leather flap on each side of a saddle, covering the metal bar from which the stirrup hangs.
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Building Trades.
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Also called apron. Furniture.
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a flat horizontal brace set immediately beneath the seat of a chair, chest of drawers, or the like, to strengthen the legs.
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Also called bed, frieze. a flat brace or support immediately beneath a tabletop.
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Usually skirts the bordering, marginal, or outlying part of a place, group, etc.; the outskirts.
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Older Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman or girl.
to chase some skirt;
a skirt chaser.
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Rocketry. an outer part of a rocket or missile that provides structural support or houses such systems as avionics or gyroscopes.
verb (used with object)
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to lie on or along the border of.
The hills skirt the town.
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to border, wrap, or cover with a skirt or something suggesting a skirt in appearance or function.
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to pass along or around the border or edge of.
Traffic skirts the town.
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to avoid, go around the edge of, or keep distant from (something that is controversial, risky, etc.).
The senator skirted the issue.
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to remove low-grade wool and foreign matter from (the outer edge of fleece).
verb (used without object)
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to be or lie on or along the edge of something.
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to move along or around the border of something.
noun
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a garment hanging from the waist, worn chiefly by women and girls
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the part of a dress below the waist
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Also called: apron. a frieze or circular flap, as round the base of a hovercraft
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the flaps on a saddle that protect a rider's legs
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a cut of beef from the flank
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(often plural) a margin or outlying area
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the lower part of a sheep's fleece
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slang a girl or woman
verb
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(tr) to form the edge of
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(tr) to provide with a border
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to pass (by) or be situated (near) the outer edge of (an area, etc)
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(tr) to avoid (a difficulty, etc)
he skirted the issue
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to remove the trimmings or inferior wool from (a fleece)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have skirtedperfect
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has skirtedperfect 3rd person singular
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are skirtingprogressive
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have been skirtingperfect progressive
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is skirtingprogressive 3rd person singular
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skirtssingular 3rd person
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has been skirtingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am skirtingprogressive 1st person singular
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skirtingparticiple
Past
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had skirtedperfect
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was skirtingprogressive singular
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were skirtingprogressive plural
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skirtedsimple
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had been skirtingperfect progressive
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skirtedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of skirt
1250–1300; Middle English skirte < Old Norse skyrta shirt
Explanation
Unlike pants, which fully cover each of your legs separately, a skirt is basically a single piece of fabric covering part of your legs. If you want to show a little leg, wear a skirt! Skirts can be very short (like a miniskirt) or so long they drag on the ground. Long ago, skirt was also rude slang for a young woman. As a verb, skirt means "go around," like when you skirt a city instead of driving straight through it. The word outskirts, "outer parts or fringes" is related.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The agency can strike agreements that skirt some standard government contracting rules.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
“But I’m giving more options like a skirt, a bralette, a dress. They’re just different things.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
At a hearing in Virginia on Friday, government lawyers said Rush "cannot be trusted" and was "fully willing and able to skirt the rules", according to the BBC's US media partner, CBS News.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
A spoonful whisked into a skirt steak stew can make it taste as though it simmered well past dinnertime.
From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026
She has round pink glasses, a ponytail of gray braids, and a skirt that shimmers when she walks.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
