skirt

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English [edit]

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A skirt

Etymology [edit]

From Old Norse skyrta, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ. Compare shirt.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

skirt (plural skirts)

  1. An article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body.
    • circa 1907, O. Henry, The Purple Dress:
      "I like purple best," said Maida. "And old Schlegel has promised to make it for $8. It's going to be lovely. I'm going to have a plaited skirt and a blouse coat trimmed with a band of galloon under a white cloth collar with two rows of—"
  2. The part of a dress or robe that hangs below the waist.
    • 1885, Ada S. Ballin, The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice, Chapter XI:
      The petticoats and skirts ordinarily worn are decidedly the heaviest part of the dress ; hence it is necessary that some reform should be effected in these.
  3. (pejorative, slang) A woman.
    • 1931, Robert E. Howard, Alleys of Peril:
      "Mate," said the Cockney, after we'd finished about half the bottle, "it comes to me that we're a couple o' blightin' idjits to be workin' for a skirt."
      "What d'ya mean?" I asked, taking a pull at the bottle.
      "Well, 'ere's us, two red-blooded 'e-men, takin' orders from a lousy little frail, 'andin' the swag h'over to 'er, and takin' wot she warnts to 'and us, w'en we could 'ave the 'ole lot. Take this job 'ere now--"
  4. (UK, colloquial) Women collectively, in a sexual context.
  5. (UK, colloquial) Sexual intercourse with a woman.
  6. A part that serves as a border or edging.

Usage notes [edit]

  • (article of clothing): It was formerly common to speak of “skirts” (plural) rather than “a skirt”. In some cases this served to emphasize an array of skirts of underskirts, or of pleats and folds in a single skirt; in other cases it made little or no difference in meaning.

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from skirt

Translations [edit]

clothing
part of dress
something resembling a skirt
slang for woman
border
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Verb [edit]

skirt (third-person singular simple present skirts, present participle skirting, simple past and past participle skirted)

  1. To be on or form the border of.
  2. To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1
      An enormous man and woman (it was early-closing day) were stretched motionless, with their heads on pocket-handkerchiefs, side by side, within a few feet of the sea, while two or three gulls gracefully skirted the incoming waves, and settled near their boots.

Related terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

to be on or from the border of
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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Anagrams [edit]

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