skirt

[ skurt ]

/ skɜrt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR skirt ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the part of a gown, dress, slip, or coat that extends downward from the waist.

a one-piece garment extending downward from the waist and not joined between the legs, worn especially by women and girls.

some part resembling or suggesting the skirt of a garment, as the flared lip of a bell or a protective and ornamental cloth strip covering the legs of furniture.

a small leather flap on each side of a saddle, covering the metal bar from which the stirrup hangs.

Building Trades.

Also called apron. Furniture.

a flat horizontal brace set immediately beneath the seat of a chair, chest of drawers, or the like, to strengthen the legs.
Also called bed, frieze.. a flat brace or support immediately beneath a tabletop.

Usually skirts. the bordering, marginal, or outlying part of a place, group, etc.; the outskirts.

Older Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman or girl: to chase some skirt; a skirt chaser.

Rocketry. an outer part of a rocket or missile that provides structural support or houses such systems as avionics or gyroscopes.

verb (used with object)

to lie on or along the border of: The hills skirt the town.

to border, wrap, or cover with a skirt or something suggesting a skirt in appearance or function.

to pass along or around the border or edge of: Traffic skirts the town.

to avoid, go around the edge of, or keep distant from (something that is controversial, risky, etc.): The senator skirted the issue.

to remove low-grade wool and foreign matter from (the outer edge of fleece).

verb (used without object)

to be or lie on or along the edge of something.

to move along or around the border of something.

Nearby words

Origin of skirt

1250–1300; Middle English skirte < Old Norse skyrta shirt

SYNONYMS FOR skirt

13 evade, shun, circle, bypass.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR skirt ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsskirt·less, adjectiveskirt·like, adjectiveun·skirt·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for skirted

If this is truly the case, the E.U. will have skirted both its own rules and, by extension, Israel's Boycott Law.
Why is the E.U. So Willing to Compromise on Settlement Guidelines?|Matt Lerner|October 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“They skirted around it by saying he was a man of faith,” said “Reality Steve” Carbone, who writes about The Bachelor on his blog.
Why Did ‘The Bachelor’ Hide Sean Lowe’s Born-Again Virginity?|Ramin Setoodeh|March 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Filming stalled, then continued without him with a six-episode prequel that skirted around the titular character.
Spartacus Hero Liam McIntyre’s Unlikely Rise into the Role|Adam Auriemma|January 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Bailey also writes that Palin skirted the law during the Troopergate affair.
Inside the Sarah Palin Tell-All Book|Shushannah Walshe|February 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST

But as it turns out, Brown had his own Latin misadventure, one that may have skirted the law.
Jerry Brown's Castro Trouble|A. L. Bardach|October 5, 2010|DAILY BEAST
She was just crossing a meadow, which was skirted by a wood.
Bijou|Gyp
Every now and then she stopped and listened intently, peering among the trees that skirted the road or across the expanse of moor.
Little Folks (November 1884)|Various
Between its terminal moraines and the older moraines we have skirted, a rather voluminous stream has eroded its valley.
Trans-Himalaya, Vol. 2 (of 2)|Sven Hedin
I then turned to the right, and entered the low hills which skirted the plain on that side.
Western Himalaya and Tibet|Thomas Thomson
The road to Maxton, the Prices' place, skirted the village and then went directly up quite a steep elevation.
A House Party with the Tucker Twins|Nell Speed

British Dictionary definitions for skirted

skirt

/ (skɜːt) /

noun

a garment hanging from the waist, worn chiefly by women and girls

the part of a dress below the waist

Also called: apron a frieze or circular flap, as round the base of a hovercraft

the flaps on a saddle that protect a rider's legs

British a cut of beef from the flank

(often plural) a margin or outlying area

NZ the lower part of a sheep's fleece

bit of skirt slang a girl or woman

verb

(tr) to form the edge of

(tr) to provide with a border

(when intr, foll by around, along, etc) to pass (by) or be situated (near) the outer edge of (an area, etc)

(tr) to avoid (a difficulty, etc)he skirted the issue

mainly Australian and NZ to remove the trimmings or inferior wool from (a fleece)

Derived Formsskirted, adjective

Word Origin for skirt

C13: from Old Norse skyrta shirt

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

Word Origin and History for skirted (1 of 2)

skirt

early 14c., "lower part of a woman's dress," from Old Norse skyrta "shirt, a kind of kirtle;" see shirt. Sense development from "shirt" to "skirt" is possibly related to the long shirts of peasant garb (cf. Low German cognate Schört, in some dialects "woman's gown"). Sense of "border, edge" (in outskirts, etc.) first recorded late 15c. Metonymic use for "women collectively" is from 1550s; slang sense of "young woman" is from 1906; skirt-chaser first attested 1942.

Word Origin and History for skirted (1 of 2)

skirt

c.1600, "to border, form the edge of," from skirt (n.). Meaning "to pass along the edge" is from 1620s. Related: Skirted; skirting.

skirt

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Origin of skirt

Examples from the Web for skirted

British Dictionary definitions for skirted

skirt

noun

verb

Word Origin for skirt

Word Origin and History for skirted (1 of 2)

skirt

Word Origin and History for skirted (1 of 2)

skirt