skeet

¹ American  

[skeet] / skit /

noun

1. a form of trapshooting in which two traps are used and targets are hurled singly or in pairs at varying elevations and speeds so as to simulate the angles of flight taken by game birds.

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skeet ² American  

[skeet] / skit /

noun

Poker.

1. a hand consisting of a nine, five, two, and two other cards of denominations below nine but not of the same denomination, being of special value in certain games.

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skeet ³ American  

[skeet] / skit /

verb (used with object)

Southern U.S. and British Dialect.

1. to spit (saliva or a mouthful of other liquid) from the mouth, especially between the teeth.

2. to splash; spray.

   Skeet some cold water on your face to cool off.

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skeet British  

/ skiːt /

noun

1. Also called: skeet shooting.  a form of clay-pigeon shooting in which targets are hurled from two traps at varying speeds and angles

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Etymology

Origin of skeet¹

First recorded in 1925–30; supposedly as the result of a contest to choose a name for the sport (the winner claimed that the word was “a very old form” of shoot ¹ )

Origin of skeet²

Origin uncertain

Origin of skeet³

First recorded in 1875–80; compare Scots skite, scoot in same sense, probably ultimately from Old Norse skýt-, 1st-person present stem of skjóta “to shoot, launch, shove quickly”; see shoot ¹

Example Sentences

GB shooter Amber Rutter has qualified for the women's skeet final from 14:30 BST but there was disappointment for GB in the men's hockey.

From BBC • Aug. 4, 2024

Martínez won his first Pan-American silver medal in skeet shooting when the event was held in Caracas in 1983, one year before he competed at the Los Angeles Olympics.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

Day was a crack skeet shooter, according to former U.S.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2023

The pride of her family, the 5-foot-8 Ms. Roberts graduated with honors from Southside High School in Batesville, played basketball for Arkansas State University, where a team biography said she enjoyed hunting and skeet shooting.

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2023

The lid of the box flew off and, like a freed butterfly, a single skeet of paper fluttered out.

From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin