Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

skirting

American  
[skur-ting] / ˈskɜr tɪŋ /

noun

  1. fabric for making skirts.

  2. Often skirtings. low-grade wool and foreign matter removed from the outer edges of fleece.

  3. Also called skirting board.  British. baseboard.

skirting British  
/ ˈskɜːtɪŋ /

noun

  1. a border, esp of wood or tiles, fixed round the base of an interior wall to protect it from kicks, dirt, etc

  2. material used or suitable for skirts

"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 skirting

First recorded in 1680–90; skirt + -ing 1

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.

Just over a three-hour drive south, skirting the Rhine until you hit the Swiss border, heading into an Alpine gateway towards the turquoise waters of Lake Thun, footballing folklore is being scribed.

From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026

With the leak's Maryland location upriver from Washington, much of it found its way to the waters skirting the US capital.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

The two-lane loop threads its way among forests and A-frames and cabins, skirting the waters of June Lake and the lake’s village, which is only a few blocks long.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2026

China this summer sent a cargo ship to the Polish port of Gdansk by skirting the North Pole, a route twice as fast as travel times using the Suez Canal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

The airy way she said it made me think there was more to it than that, that she was skirting something important, but she didn’t continue.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.