skirting

[ skur-ting ]

/ ˈskɜr tɪŋ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR skirting ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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).

Nearby words

Origin of skirting

First recorded in 1680–90; skirt + -ing¹

skirt

[ skurt ]

/ skɜrt /

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.

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 skirting

The story is Lardner at his best, skirting the fence between sentimentality and cynicism and achieving pathos.
The Forgotten Genius of Ring Lardner|Allen Barra|September 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
From an overseas haven to a TARP gift to Nascar, companies are skirting the IRS.
8 Ridiculous Tax Loopholes: How Companies Are Avoiding the Tax Man|Josh Dzieza|February 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Senior officials normally observe a longstanding political taboo by skirting around such tales of torment.
China's Leader Breaks a Taboo|Melinda Liu|November 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
From the road you perceive, skirting the loch on the other side, what seems a fringe of very small bushes.
Scottish Loch Scenery|Thomas A. Croal

We descend, skirting for some distance the monastery walls, over which patches of ivy hang like green shawls.
Saunterings|Charles Dudley Warner
Skirting the spinney, we followed the brook course, and came at last to the quarry fence.
The White Peacock|D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
And it should be a wood—perhaps a forest—rather than a skirting of timber.
Methods of Authors|Hugo Erichsen
But as we were skirting along the shore I suddenly called "Hist!"
A Florida Sketch-Book|Bradford Torrey

British Dictionary definitions for skirting

skirting

/ (ˈskɜːtɪŋ) /

noun

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

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 skirting

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.

skirt

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

skirting

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of skirting

skirt

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Origin of skirt

Examples from the Web for skirting

skirting

noun

skirt

noun

verb

Word Origin for skirt

skirt

skirt