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 meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, but their path seems to trace back to the constellation Perseus, which rises in the north east and climbs higher during the night.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

He only paused to take photos of the night sky and rest for a few hours in Bordeaux.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

With black smoke belching high into the sky, Lobga staggers some 90 seconds before collapsing in flames and a U.N. security guard rushes over blasting an extinguisher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The meteors appear to come from this part of the sky, but they can streak across almost any direction, so viewers should scan a wide area overhead.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Wolf flung back his head, pointed his muzzle to the sky, and howled.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

The same high pressure systems that have kept rain away have also brought sunny skies and surges of prolonged heat.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Aug. 12 and 13: The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak under exceptionally dark skies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

Firefighters in Greece gained ground Tuesday against a wildfire burning for a fifth day on the outskirts of Athens, as easing winds allowed water-bombing aircraft back into the skies in force.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again,” is how that chipper Flapper-era song goes, and Citadel Securities appears to be singing it with a bullish call for stocks on Tuesday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

The skies opened up and rain—glorious rain—quenched the dust-dry prairie.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

With 98 runs needed from 37 balls, Jahzara Claxton skied a top edge and England's wicketkeeper Jones called for the catch.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 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

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

I had never skied before in my life.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

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

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

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

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

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 Neuhaus, Eugen

Comically, Broad got away with skying Scott Kuggeleijn from his second ball - Kuggeleijn and wicketkeeper Blundell watched as the ball dropped between them - leaving England 79-2, leading by 98.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 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

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

When running with hounds he is borne along by speed and by excitement, and so goes skying over obstacles which appal him when trotted quietly to them on a schooling day.

From Ladies on Horseback Learning, Park-Riding, and Hunting, with Hints upon Costume, and Numerous Anecdotes by Lambert, Nannie