skiffle

¹ American  

[skif-uhl] / ˈskɪf əl /

verb (used with object)

skiffled, skiffling

1. knob.

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skiffle ² American  

[skif-uhl] / ˈskɪf əl /

noun

1. a jazz style of the 1920s deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, played by bands made up of both standard and improvised instruments.

2. a style of popular music developed in England during the 1950s, deriving from hillbilly music and rock-'n'-roll, and played on a heterogeneous group of instruments, as guitar, washboard, ceramic jug, washtub, and kazoo.

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skiffle ¹ British  

/ ˈskɪfəl /

noun

1. a style of popular music of the 1950s, played chiefly on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

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skiffle ² British  

/ ˈskɪfəl /

noun

1. dialect a drizzle

   a skiffle of rain

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Etymology

Origin of skiffle¹

Perhaps akin to scabble

Origin of skiffle²

First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

The very first band I was in, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle band — Eddie worked in same factory as I did, and we got together and played.

From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2016

Skiffle was a very big thing in England with Lonnie Donegan in the early ’60s.

From New York Times • Oct. 9, 2015

Skiffle was OK but rock 'n' roll was definitely not OK.

From BBC • Oct. 2, 2012

Skiffle stayed in the group’s repertoire for a while, but Lennon had little patience for it.

From Time • Jun. 18, 2012

Skiffle music--a sort of jug-band clatter ideally suited to inexpensive and homemade instruments--was all the rage, and in 1957 Lennon formed a band called the Quarrymen.

From Time Magazine Archive