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

The ephemeral piece introduced an approach she would carry into the desert, using intense color to connect the scale of the human body with the immensity of earth and sky.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Its antenna arrays detect radio signals from celestial objects, allowing scientists to observe and catalog sources across the southern sky.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Standing barefoot outside his home at 8th Street and Balboa Boulevard, holding a cup of coffee, Ross Stewart, 79, stared at the gray sky and at the berms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026

Even the derided half-and-half scarves were doing a roaring trade, until it was noticed the sky blue half read: 'Shamchester City - The Cheats'.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Gradually, in the east, a pink-and-gold sunrise would light the immense Brabant sky as Betsie and I squeezed each other’s hands in awe.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

In the Pacific tourist resort of Puerto Vallarta, the skies were cloudy on Saturday morning but the sea was still relatively calm.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

The Met Office has said sightings remain possible across Scotland and similar geomagnetic longitudes during clear skies until Tuesday.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

The cloudless skies made every pop-up an adventure and the warm, dense air reduced drag, allowing batted balls to travel farther.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

But, on a clear night in Cardiff, the evening's skies ended up filled only with the sound of the national anthem serenading a re-energised national side's efforts.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

Though the December skies were cloudy, everyone felt a little safer when they flew over the airfield to pick up their escort and found thirty-six Soviet fighter aircraft joining them in the sky.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

And that proved the decisive moment as Helm dismissed Ajaz Patel and Tom Scriven skied Naavya Sharma straight up, with captain Ben Geddes taking the winning catch.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

He later returned to wrap up the innings, taking the final wicket when Dilshan Madushanka skied to Brook.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Mr. Chin looked left, looked right, and then jumped in and 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

The morning after our arrival at Thessicher’s farm, I took the stove and skied into town.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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

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

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

From Twelve Men by Theodore Dreiser

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

Making secure her place; Guiding her surely as the worlds through space Do laws sidereal; edicts, thunder-lit, Of skyed eternity, in splendor borne On planetary wings of night and morn.

From An Ode Read August 15, 1907, at the dedication of the monument erected at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in commemoration of the founding of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the year sixteen hundred and twenty-three by Madison Julius Cawein

Harry Brook, just when he looked like he had done it, skying one to send Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins on a collision course, the ball eventually landing safely with the Australian captain.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2023

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

Borick, meanwhile, is anywhere and everywhere at all times — diving on the ground for a dig, skying for a kill, delivering a picturesque set or dropping in an ace.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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

He barked a warning, and the sharp signal went around from hillock to hillock; and in half a minute all the big, babyish eyes were fixed upon the approach of the skying marauder.

From Children of the Wild by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts