skelly

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See also: Skelly

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *skjelga ("to squint"; found only in the reflexive skjelgask (to come askew; squint the eyes)), from Proto-Germanic *skilgijaną (to squint), from Proto-Germanic *skelhaz, *skelhwaz, *skelgaz (slanted; sloping; squinting), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (to bend; crook). Compare Danish skele (to squint), Swedish skela (to squint), Scots skellie, scalie, skellice (to squint; look to the side), German schielen (to squint).

Noun

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skelly (plural skellies)

  1. (Scotland, archaic) A squint.[1]

Verb

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skelly (third-person singular simple present skellies, present participle skellying, simple past and past participle skellied)

  1. (Scotland) To squint.[2]
  2. (Scotland) To look at

Etymology 2

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From a clipping of skeleton +‎ -y (diminutive suffix).

Noun

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skelly (plural skellies)

  1. (slang) A skeleton, especially a human one.
    We went spelunking in some caves and got quite the scare when we found some skellies in there.

Etymology 3

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Variant of skully.

Noun

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skelly (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of skully (street game of flicking caps)

References

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