skelf
Britishnoun
-
a splinter of wood, esp when embedded accidentally in the skin
-
a thin or diminutive person
Etymology
Origin of skelf
from Scottish; see shelf
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.
Other examples include “snaw” and “sneesl”, meaning to begin to rain or snow, and “skelf”, a large snowflake.
From The Guardian
"What brings ye frae Peebles, man?" continued the warder, "in sic a night as this, when a witch wouldna venture on the Skelf Hill, far less owre North Berwick Law."
From Project Gutenberg
Having a mouth which emits sounds like those made in planing. sicker, certain. siver, sewer. skail, skayl, disperse. skelf, shelf. skirr, scour. sklinter, v. splinter. skreigh, cry. sleekit, deceitful. slocken, slake. smeddam, spirit. sneck, bolt. snell, keen.
From Project Gutenberg
Then Sam he loups to the dresser-shelf— “I daur ye wallop my leddy’s delf; I daur ye break but a single skelf Frae her cheeny bowl, my man!”
From Project Gutenberg
It wasna an ill w'y to beery fowk, nor an ill place to gang til, for they aye biggit up the skelf, ye ken.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
