skiffle
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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.
noun
noun
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:
They met in the summer of 1957 at a garden party in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, where 17-year-old Lennon was performing with his skiffle band the Quarrymen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
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
After settling in Connecticut in 1997, Mr. Valentine returned to his skiffle roots, forming the band Skiffledog, which toured the United States and released two albums.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2021
What if skiffle, rather than the music of the Beatles, had seized the imagination of the world in 1963?
From The Guardian ● Apr. 10, 2020
Lennon formed the skiffle and rock 'n' roll group in early 1957 alongside Rod Davis, Pete Shotton, Colin Hanton, Eric Griffiths and Len Garry.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 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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