Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for skirting on Thesaurus.com fabric for making skirts . Often skirtings. low-grade wool and foreign matter removed from the outer edges of fleece. Also called skirting board . British baseboard(def 1) .Show More
Origin of skirting First recorded in
1680–90; skirt +
-ing1 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 baseboard(def 1) .apron(def 13) .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. Show More
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). Show More
verb (used without object) to be or lie on or along the edge of something. to move along or around the border of something. Show More
Origin of skirt 1250–1300; Middle English skirte <
Old Norse skyrta shirt Related forms skirt·less , adjective skirt·like , adjective un·skirt·ed , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for skirting dodge ,
elude ,
sidestep ,
evade ,
ignore ,
bypass ,
circumvent ,
fringe ,
rim ,
bound ,
surround ,
edge ,
verge ,
hem ,
flank ,
margin ,
define ,
skip ,
equivocate ,
duck Examples from the Web for skirting Contemporary Examples of skirting The story is Lardner at his best, skirting the fence between sentimentality and cynicism and achieving pathos.
From an overseas haven to a TARP gift to Nascar, companies are skirting the IRS.
Senior officials normally observe a longstanding political taboo by skirting around such tales of torment.
Historical Examples of skirting Continuing their inspection, they went on, skirting the hillside.
After skirting the covert, she turned homewards by a pathway through the trees.
The old dame entered, skirting warily the vicinity of the "madman."
I started back at the gallop, skirting the side of the valley.
We ran along the road, skirting the edge of the little town.
British Dictionary definitions for skirting a border, esp of wood or tiles, fixed round the base of an interior wall to protect it from kicks, dirt, etc material used or suitable for skirts Show More
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 Show More
(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) Show More
Derived Forms skirted , 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
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Word Origin and History for skirting n. 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.
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v. c.1600, "to border, form the edge of," from skirt (n.). Meaning "to pass along the edge" is from 1620s. Related: Skirted ; skirting .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
