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Synonyms

skean

American  
[skeen, skee-uhn] / skin, ˈski ən /
Also skene

noun

  1. a knife or dagger formerly used in Ireland and in the Scottish Highlands.


skean British  
/ skiːn /

noun

  1. a kind of double-edged dagger formerly used in Ireland and Scotland

"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

Etymology

Origin of skean

1520–30; < Scots Gaelic sgian or Irish scian

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He described the defeat as "the night of long skean dhus".

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2015

Last week at 98 he was the oldest Highland chieftain, with tasseled sporran and a jeweled skean dhus dirk in his stocking.

From Time Magazine Archive

I had my skean handy, but I had a hunch this wasn't anything I could settle with a skean.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

One guard pushed my skean back into its clasp.

From The Door Through Space by Bradley, Marion Zimmer

A Sassenach chief may be bonily built, He may purchase a sporran, a bonnet, and kilt; Stick a skean in his hose—wear an acre of stripes— But he cannot assume an affection for pipes.

From The Best Nonsense Verses by Bacon, Josephine Dodge Daskam

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