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Showing results for skiffle. Search instead for skiffled.

skiffle

1 American  
[skif-uhl] / ˈskɪf əl /

verb (used with object)

skiffled, skiffling
  1. knob.


skiffle 2 American  
[skif-uhl] / ˈskɪf əl /

noun

  1. a jazz style of the 1920s deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, played by bands made up of both standard and improvised instruments.

  2. 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.


skiffle 1 British  
/ ˈskɪfəl /

noun

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

"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

skiffle 2 British  
/ ˈskɪfəl /

noun

  1. dialect a drizzle

    a skiffle of rain

"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 skiffle1

Perhaps akin to scabble

Origin of skiffle2

First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain


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:

Already playing the proto-rock of skiffle, Nash skipped school to score tickets to see Bill Haley & His Comets with Clarke, days after his 15th birthday.

From New York Times ● May 10, 2023

It soon became a favorite in the British folk-music scene and a radio hit; it even made it into the repertoire of Liverpool skiffle band, the Quarrymen, sung by a teenage John Lennon.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2022

Krauss: I love Fairport Convention and skiffle and all the things that came from that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2022

The song sold a million copies and popularised the British skiffle scene that inspired the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2021

Rhythmically, the song was a mix of skiffle, Caribbean and the Latin American I’ve loved ever since hearing Edmundo Ros on the radio with my mum.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 10, 2020

It's an impression reinforced live by his skiffling two-piece pick-up band; they'll be popping up to entertain at a number of festivals this week.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 20, 2012

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