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

In Montreal, the sky turned yellow on Tuesday morning due to smoke from wildfires burning several hundred miles away in northern Quebec and northwestern Ontario.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

The towering stainless steel rocket, standing taller than a 30 story building, ignited all 33 of its engines and climbed into the sky.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

The Briton fended off three break points at 4-3, but it only delayed the inevitable and Zverev lofted a ball into the sky as he secured the victory.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

On the desolate dunes of the Outer Banks, the Wright brothers conquered the sky in 1903, proving that controlled, powered flight was no longer a human fantasy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

At last, when the sun was low in the sky, a prisoner crew arrived with a great vat of some thick steamy substance that we gobbled ravenously.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Too often the Boks took to the air and returned with the ball, with the superb Damian Willemse ruling the skies.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

The F-35’s stealth technology and sensors are a core reason the U.S. and Israel owned the skies over Iran during operations Epic Fury and Midnight Hammer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

For much of the game, the players were also running in and out of shadows along the western touchline and both goalkeepers had to shade their eyes against glare from the cloudless late-afternoon skies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

U.S. airlines’ stocks are flying high as jet-fuel prices fall and Americans continue to take to the skies, with shares of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines zooming toward fresh records on Tuesday.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

Other believed a star, when found, could take you on a great adventure across the skies.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

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

Horning, an 82-year-old real estate mogul who skied in jeans, buys his shirts at Costco and cuts his own hair, has his own name for what Telluride has become.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026

And there was joy in his face as he skied down the final descent, poles clutched in one hand, his other fist raised in triumph as he came through the line.

From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026

She skied the course in a smooth 47.13 seconds, 0.82 of a second faster than Germany’s Laura Duerr, who went just before her and briefly had the fastest run.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026

We skied through small frosty woods and over the hillocks and fields of the disputed valley.

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

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 Bolton, Sarah Knowles

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 Cawein, Madison Julius

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 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady

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

From Twelve Men by Dreiser, Theodore

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 Howells, William Dean

Openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks combined for 39, but both struggled to unleash their trademark bombastic pinch-hitting and they fell in quick succession, skying catches off the bowling of Jayden Seales.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 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

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 Roberts, Charles George Douglas, Sir