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skyscraper

[ skahy-skrey-per ]
/ ˈskaɪˌskreɪ pər /
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noun

a relatively tall building of many stories, especially one for office or commercial use.
Architecture. a building of exceptional height completely supported by a framework, as of girders, from which the walls are suspended, as opposed to a building supported by load-bearing walls.

RELATED WORDS

high-rise, tower, superstructure

Nearby words

  1. skyphos,
  2. skyrocket,
  3. skyros,
  4. skysail,
  5. skyscape,
  6. skyscraping,
  7. skysurf,
  8. skysurfing,
  9. skyte,
  10. skytrooper

Origin of skyscraper

First recorded in 1785–95; sky + scraper
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for skyscraper

skyscraper

/ (ˈskaɪˌskreɪpə) /

noun

a very tall multistorey building
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 skyscraper

skyscraper

n.

very tall urban building, 1888, in a Chicago context, from sky (n.) + agent noun of scrape (v.). Used earlier for "ornament atop a building" (1883), "very tall man" (1857), "high-flying bird" (1840), "light sail at the top of a mast" (1794), and the name of a racehorse (1789). Cf. cognate French gratte-ciel, from gratter "to scrape" + ciel "sky;" German Wolkenkratzer, from Wolke "cloud" + Kratzer "scraper."

cloud-cleaver, an imaginary sail jokingly assumed to be carried by Yankee ships. [W. Clark Russell, "Sailors' Word Book," 1883]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper