sky

[skahy]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sky ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural skies. Often skies (for defs 1–4).

the region of the clouds or the upper air; the upper atmosphere of the earth: airplanes in the sky; cloudy skies.

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

the supernal or celestial heaven: They looked to the sky for help.

the climate: the sunny skies of Italy.

Obsolete. a cloud.

verb (used with object), skied or skyed, sky·ing.

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

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

Verb Phrases

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

Idioms

out of a/the clear sky, without advance notice or warning; abruptly: An old beau phoned her out of a clear sky.Also out of a/the clear blue sky.

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

Origin of sky

1175–1225; Middle English < Old Norse skȳ cloud, cognate with Old English scēo cloud

Related formssky·less, adjectivesky·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sky

lid, firmament, welkin, empyrean, azure, vault, heavens

Examples from the Web for sky

Contemporary Examples of sky

Where these laser-like missiles are falling out of the sky onto a city and you have to stop each of them from hitting the targets?
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange
Marlow Stern
December 27, 2014
“At least it keeps the mosquitoes away,” one of my table-mates said, as we watched the swooshes of smoke waft into the Havana sky.
Canada ♥ Cuba Just Got Complicated
Shinan Govani
December 22, 2014
Rob Marshall lets a sigh of relief erupt so loud it could be heard by giants in the sky.
Rob Marshall Defends ‘Into the Woods’
Kevin Fallon
December 9, 2014
The sky is not the limit; beliefs still must be sincere and connected to some for-real source.
In Florida, ’Tis The Season for Satan
Jay Michaelson
December 7, 2014
Especially not when the display in question includes an angel falling from the sky in flames, surrounded by Biblical verses.
In Florida, ’Tis The Season for Satan
Jay Michaelson
December 7, 2014

Historical Examples of sky

They were fabled as seven sisters, and one lost her place in the sky by marrying a mortal.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
They made maps of the sky and they discovered the first five planets.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
He went on until the sun was low in the west and all the sky was rimmed with color.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Oceans and land and sky are avenues for our colossal commerce.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
She was a widow, and had loved her husband, and her sky was still tinged with grey.
Viviette
William J. Locke

British Dictionary definitions for sky

sky

noun plural skies

(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 nightRelated adjectives: celestial, empyrean

outer space, as seen from the earth

(often plural) weather, as described by the appearance of the upper airsunny skies

the source of divine power; heaven

informal the highest level of attainmentthe sky's the limit

to the skies highly; extravagantly

verb skies, skying or skied

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

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

Derived Formsskylike, adjective

Word Origin for sky

C13: from Old Norse skӯ; related to Old English scio cloud, Old Saxon skio, Old Norse skjār transparent skin

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 sky

c.1200, "a cloud," from Old Norse sky "cloud," from Proto-Germanic *skeujam "cloud, cloud cover" (cf. Old English sceo, Old Saxon scio "cloud, region of the clouds, sky;" Old High German scuwo, Old English scua, Old Norse skuggi "shadow;" Gothic skuggwa "mirror"), from PIE root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see hide (n.1)).

Meaning "upper regions of the air" is attested from c.1300; replaced native heofon in this sense (see heaven). In Middle English, the word can still mean both "cloud" and "heaven," as still in the skies, originally "the clouds." Sky-high is from 1812; phrase the sky's the limit is attested from 1908. Sky-dive first recorded 1965; sky-writing is from 1922.

"to raise or throw toward the skies," 1802, from sky (n.).

sky in Science

sky

[skī]

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.

Idioms and Phrases with sky

sky

In addition to the idiom beginning with sky

, also see

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

reach for the sky.