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Synonyms

skirr

American  
[skur] / skɜr /

verb (used without object)

  1. to go rapidly; fly; scurry.


verb (used with object)

  1. to go rapidly over.

noun

  1. a grating or whirring sound.

skirr British  
/ skɜː /

verb

  1. (intr; usually foll by off, away, etc) to move, run, or fly rapidly

  2. archaic (tr) to move rapidly over (an area, etc), esp in order to find or apprehend

"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

noun

  1. a whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight

"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 skirr

First recorded in 1540–50; variant of scour 2

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.

Andrew Motion, Britain's poet laureate since 1999, selected skirr, which refers to the rattling, scratchy noise that a bird's wings make during flight.

From Time Magazine Archive

His story begins with a martial skirr in the Peking of 1922.

From Time Magazine Archive

Beyond the ring and roll of hell— And spiral lofts of quartz and gold— We skirr upon the crutch of haste And cleave the abyss, cold and bleak.

From Betelguese A Trip Through Hell by de Esque, Jean

Steeds were browsing in the shade, with loosened bits, but saddled, ready at the first sound of the bugle to skirr through brake and thicket.

From The Life of Francis Marion by Simms, William Gilmore

These, with the constant skirr of the ground-crickets and the prolonged whine of the coyote, are the only sounds that salute them as they glide on—none of which are of a kind to cause alarm.

From The Lone Ranche by Reid, Mayne

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