skilly

noun

mainly British a thin soup or gruel

Word Origin

C19: shortened from skilligallee, probably a fanciful formation

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

Examples from the Web for skilly

Historical Examples

It's the skilly, it's the four-ounce system, I 'm afraid of.
The Bramleighs Of Bishop's Folly
Charles James Lever
Same as you had before—bread and water, and skilly o' Sundays!
The History of "Punch"
M. H. Spielmann
I say, though, did you know that he was a pauper, and lived on skilly?
Brownsmith's Boy
George Manville Fenn
The big fellow was pulpier than ever; his complexion the colour of skilly.
The Hill
Horace Annesley Vachell
You're living on the fat of the land—you shall see how you like skilly!
Young Blood
E. W. Hornung

skilly

Word Origin

Examples from the Web for skilly

Historical Examples

It's the skilly, it's the four-ounce system, I 'm afraid of.

Same as you had before—bread and water, and skilly o' Sundays!

I say, though, did you know that he was a pauper, and lived on skilly?

The big fellow was pulpier than ever; his complexion the colour of skilly.

You're living on the fat of the land—you shall see how you like skilly!