Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

skean

American  
[skeen, skee-uhn] / skin, ˈski ən /
Also skene

noun

  1. a knife or dagger formerly used in Ireland and in the Scottish Highlands.


skean British  
/ skiːn /

noun

  1. a kind of double-edged dagger formerly used in Ireland and Scotland

"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

Etymology

Origin of skean

1520–30; < Scots Gaelic sgian or Irish scian

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.

See Examples For:

He described the defeat as "the night of long skean dhus".

From BBC Jun. 2, 2015

Last week at 98 he was the oldest Highland chieftain, with tasseled sporran and a jeweled skean dhus dirk in his stocking.

From Time Magazine Archive

I threw my skean away before I came here.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

I edged backward, my own hand racing up for a skean I hadn't carried in six years, and fronted them squarely, hoping I could face down the prospect of a roughhouse.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

I buckled the final clasp of my shirtcloak, fitted my skean another notch into it, and counted the money Mack had advanced me for expenses.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training