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skiffle

1
[ skif-uhl ]
/ ˈskɪf əl /
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verb (used with object), skif·fled, skif·fling.
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Origin of skiffle

1
Perhaps akin to scabble

Words nearby skiffle

Other definitions for skiffle (2 of 2)

skiffle2
[ skif-uhl ]
/ ˈskɪf əl /

noun
a jazz style of the 1920s deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, played by bands made up of both standard and improvised instruments.
a style of popular music developed in England during the 1950s, deriving from hillbilly music and rock-'n'-roll, and played on a heterogeneous group of instruments, as guitar, washboard, ceramic jug, washtub, and kazoo.

Origin of skiffle

2
First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use skiffle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for skiffle (1 of 2)

skiffle1
/ (ˈskɪfəl) /

noun
a style of popular music of the 1950s, played chiefly on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

Word Origin for skiffle

C20: of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for skiffle (2 of 2)

skiffle2
/ (ˈskɪfəl) /

noun
Ulster dialect a drizzlea skiffle of rain

Word Origin for skiffle

from Scottish skiff, from skiff to move lightly, probably changed from skift, from Old Norse skipta shift
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
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