skelp
1 Americannoun
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a slap, smack, or blow, especially one given with the open hand.
-
the sound of such a slap or smack.
verb (used with object)
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to slap, smack, or strike (someone), especially on the buttocks; spank.
-
to drive (animals) by slapping or goading them.
noun
verb
noun
noun
Etymology
Origin of skelp1
1350–1400; Middle English; probably imitative
Origin of skelp2
First recorded in 1805–15; perhaps special use of skelp 1
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.
David Narey's famous skelp to put Scotland one up against Brazil in 1982 was the exact point at which the rot set in.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 7, 2010
Silver Phil—imagine the turpitoode of sech a ornery wretch!—is out for the lovely skelp of Faro Nell who detects him in his ha'r-copper frauds that time.
From Wolfville Nights by Lewis, Alfred Henry
He would have lost both skelp an' standin' if he had.
From Wolfville Days by Lewis, Alfred Henry
But I 'low I cut my eye-teeth 'bout as airly as some of you that's got more larnin' under your skelp.
From The End of the World A Love Story by Eggleston, Edward
“I mind when I was a bairn getting mony a skelp and being shoo’d to bed like pou’try,” she would say.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XIX (of 25) The Ebb-Tide; Weir of Hermiston by Stevenson, Robert Louis
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.
