sky

American  

[skahy] / skaɪ /

noun

• skies
  plural

1. the region of the clouds or the upper air; the upper atmosphere of the earth.

   airplanes in the sky; cloudy skies.

2. the heavens or firmament, appearing as a great arch or vault.

3. the supernal or celestial heaven.

   They looked to the sky for help.

4. the climate.

   the sunny skies of Italy.

5. Obsolete. a cloud.

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verb (used with object)

• skies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• skied,
  past participle,  past
• skyed,
  past participle,  past
• skying
  present participle

1. Informal. to raise, throw, or hit aloft or into the air.

2. Informal. to hang (a painting) high on a wall, above the line of vision.

verb phrase

1. sky up (of prey, when flushed) to fly straight upward.

idioms

1. to the skies, with lavishness or enthusiasm; extravagantly: Also to the sky

   to praise someone to the skies.

2. out of a / the clear sky, without advance notice or warning; abruptly: Also out of athe clear blue sky

   An old beau phoned her out of a clear sky.

sky British  

/ skaɪ /

noun

1. (sometimes plural) the apparently dome-shaped expanse extending upwards from the horizon that is characteristically blue or grey during the day, red in the evening, and black at night

2. outer space, as seen from the earth

3. (often plural) weather, as described by the appearance of the upper air

   sunny skies

4. the source of divine power; heaven

5. informal the highest level of attainment

   the sky's the limit

6. highly; extravagantly

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verb

1. rowing to lift (the blade of an oar) too high before a stroke

2. informal (tr) to hit (a ball) high in the air

sky Scientific  

/ skī /

1. The atmosphere, as seen from a given point on the Earth's surface. The sky appears to be blue because the wavelengths associated with blue light are scattered more easily than those that are associated with the other colors.

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sky More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sky

• blow sky-high
• out of a clear blue sky
• pie in the sky
• reach for the sky

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• skyless
  adjective
• skylike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• skies
  plural

Participles

• skying
  present
• skied
  past
• skyed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sky
  simple
• skies
  simple
• have skied
  perfect
• have skyed
  perfect
• has skied
  perfect
• has skyed
  perfect
• am skying
  progressive
• are skying
  progressive
• is skying
  progressive
• have been skying
  perfect progressive
• has been skying
  perfect progressive

Past

• skied
  simple
• skyed
  simple
• had skied
  perfect
• had skyed
  perfect
• was skying
  progressive
• were skying
  progressive
• had been skying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sky
  simple
• will have skied
  perfect
• will have skyed
  perfect
• will be skying
  progressive
• will have been skying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sky

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old Norse skȳ “cloud,” cognate with Old English scēo “cloud”

Explanation

Want to see the sky? Go outside and look up! That’s assuming you’re not on Mars, of course. Everything you see above the surface of the Earth is the sky. Astronomers use the term "celestial sphere" for the sky. It's the space that includes everything we can see from our earthbound perspective, including clouds, stars, the sun, and the moon. If your uncle takes you out for ice cream and says, "The sky's the limit!" he means that there is no limit at all—you can order anything, even an enormous banana split.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sky skies skied skyed skying

As the late British economist John Maynard Keynes reminded us, trees do not grow to the sky.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

Over more than 30 years, Hubble has observed roughly 0.1% of the night sky.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

I lay on my back and stared at a bright blue painted sky, dappled with puffy clouds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

The UFO script has varied little in the decades since: lights in the sky, claims of a coverup and a recurring lack of evidence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The streets there were broader and straighter; even the sky seemed bigger.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Her husky voice is familiar to pilots in Greek skies -- as are her outbursts.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

In Tangier, Morocco, the chance of clear skies is high—and you’ll have plenty of post-viewing excursion options, like the legendary Caves of Hercules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

"We know that we will always be victorious. I wish you peaceful skies, a good mood, comfort, prosperity and pride in our country."

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Eighty years later, Eisenhower owned the skies over Europe and leveraged the power of a vast coalition to conquer Hitler’s Fortress Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

All over the USSR, young women were taking to the skies and trying to join the Red Army so they could be like their modest and hardworking hero, Marina Raskova.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

One sweep too many at Usman resulted in a skied top-edge.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Oh, and never ski with anyone who skied down Everest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

The next inning, Max Muncy skied a solo homer to right.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

Arsenal produced a battling display but lacked attacking quality as PSG dominated with 75% possession and eventually won on penalties as centre-back Gabriel skied his penalty in the shootout.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

A jar of peanut butter had crashed to the floor; someone had gotten a running start, jumped into it, and skied a brown, onefooted track to the stove.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

In these fancies Cornelia even had them come to New York, to see her picture in position; it was not on the line, of course, and yet it was not skyed.

From The Coast of Bohemia by William Dean Howells

In the Salon that year six thousand pictures were offered, and only two thousand accepted, and many of these were "skyed."

From Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The picture was received, but was "skyed," that is, placed so high that nobody could well see it.

From Lives of Girls Who Became Famous by Sarah Knowles Bolton

Frederic M. DuMond's "Sea Carvings" in the corner, and Nahl's decorative composition attract, each in its way, while in another corner a badly skyed portrait by Hinkle is scarcely given a chance.

From The Galleries of the Exposition by Eugen Neuhaus

The third was skyed, but he was admitted to membership.

From Twelve Men by Theodore Dreiser

Jayasuriya edged Matthew Potts to the juggling Brook at second slip, Vishwa Fernando was palpably lbw to Woakes and Chandimal last out by skying Potts to sub fielder Harry Singh at deep cover.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2024

Mexico pushed and pushed, skying one over the goal early in stoppage time among other attempts that caused sighs, and then at five minutes beyond 90 the whole thing collapsed with a rare Saudi counterattack.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2022

Redaelli was an offensive lynchpin beyond her years in Palisades’ 25-17, 25-18, 5-25, 27-25, 15-12 rivalry win over Venice on Thursday night, raining shots from all angles, skying from the back for the match-clinching kill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

He had 105 yards on six catches, with two receiving touchdowns, by either gliding uncovered up the seams or skying over defenders.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2021

This insolent question needed no answer, and Major Flint drove, skying the ball to a prodigious height.

From Miss Mapp by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson