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outskirt

[out-skurt]
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noun
  1. Often outskirts. the outlying district or region, as of a city, metropolitan area, or the like: to live on the outskirts of town; a sparsely populated outskirt.
  2. Usually outskirts. the border or fringes of a specified quality, condition, or the like: the outskirts of respectability.
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Origin of outskirt

First recorded in 1590–1600; out- + skirt
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for outskirt

periphery, environs, vicinity, suburb, edge, limit, purlieu, boundary, border, outpost, suburbia

Examples from the Web for outskirt

Historical Examples of outskirt

  • It stood at a furlong's distance from the house, on the outskirt of the town.

    Robert Falconer

    George MacDonald

  • Again we threaded a narrow turning: here was an outskirt of the town.

  • My old Lavao friend gets hold of me and walks me to outskirt.

  • His activity of mind and body at this outskirt of civilization was wonderful.

  • Young Donald, in his homespun tartan, stood on the outskirt of the little crowd that surrounded her, listening.

Word Origin and History for outskirt

n.

"outer border," 1590s, from out + skirt (n.). Now only in plural, outskirts. Originally in Spenser.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper