Skellum Skel"lum noun [ Danish schelm , from German schelm .] A scoundrel. [ Obsolete or Scot.] Pepys. Burns.

Skelly Skel"ly intransitive verb [ Confer Danish skele , Swedish skela .] To squint. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Skelly Skel"ly noun A squint. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Skelp Skelp noun [ Confer Prov. English skelp to kick severely, to move rapidly; Gael. sgealp , noun , a slap with the palm of the hand, v., to strike with the palm of the hand.] 1. A blow; a smart stroke. [ Prov. Eng.] Brockett.

2. A squall; also, a heavy fall of rain. [ Scot.]

Skelp Skelp transitive verb To strike; to slap. [ Scot.] C. Reade.

Skelp Skelp noun A wrought-iron plate from which a gun barrel or pipe is made by bending and welding the edges together, and drawing the thick tube thus formed.

Skelp Skelp transitive verb To form into skelp, as a plate or bar of iron by rolling; also, to bend round (a skelp) in tube making.

Skelter Skel"ter intransitive verb [ Confer Helter- skelter .] To run off helter-skelter; to hurry; to scurry; -- with away or off . [ Colloq.] A. R. Wallace.

Sken Sken intransitive verb To squint. [ Prov. Eng.]

Skene Skene noun See Skean . C. Kingsley.

Skep Skep noun [ Icelandic skeppa a measure, bushel; confer Gael. sgeap a basket, a beehive.] 1. A coarse round farm basket. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Tusser.

2. A beehive. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Skeptic Skep"tic noun [ Greek skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, from ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to view, consider: confer Latin scepticus , French sceptique . See Scope .] [ Written also sceptic .] 1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons.

2. (Metaph.) A doubter as to whether any fact or truth can be certainly known; a universal doubter; a Pyrrhonist; hence, in modern usage, occasionally, a person who questions whether any truth or fact can be established on philosophical grounds; sometimes, a critical inquirer, in opposition to a dogmatist.

All this criticism [ of Hume] proceeds upon the erroneous hypothesis that he was a dogmatist. He was a skeptic ; that is, he accepted the principles asserted by the prevailing dogmatism: and only showed that such and such conclusions were, on these principles, inevitable.

Sir W. Hamilton.

3. (Theol.) A person who doubts the existence and perfections of God, or the truth of revelation; one who disbelieves the divine origin of the Christian religion.

Suffer not your faith to be shaken by the sophistries of skeptics .

S. Clarke.

» This word and its derivatives are often written with c instead of k in the first syllable, -- sceptic , sceptical , scepticism , etc. Dr. Johnson, struck with the extraordinary irregularity of giving c its hard sound before e , altered the spelling, and his example has been followed by most of the lexicographers who have succeeded him; yet the prevalent practice among English writers and printers is in favor of the other mode. In the United States this practice is reversed, a large and increasing majority of educated persons preferring the orthography which is most in accordance with etymology and analogy.

Syn. -- Infidel; unbeliever; doubter. -- See Infidel .

Skeptic, Skeptical Skep"tic, Skep"tic·al adjective [ Written also sceptic , sceptical .] 1. Of or pertaining to a sceptic or skepticism; characterized by skepticism; hesitating to admit the certainly of doctrines or principles; doubting of everything.

2. (Theol.) Doubting or denying the truth of revelation, or the sacred Scriptures.

The skeptical system subverts the whole foundation of morals.

R. Hall.

-- Skep"tac*al*ly , adverb -- Skep"tic*al*ness , noun

Skepticism Skep"ti·cism noun [ Confer French scepticisme .] [ Written also scepticism .] 1. An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.

That momentary amazement, and irresolution, and confusion, which is the result of skepticism .

Hune.

2. (Metaph.) The doctrine that no fact or principle can be certainly known; the tenet that all knowledge is uncertain; Pyrrohonism; universal doubt; the position that no fact or truth, however worthy of confidence, can be established on philosophical grounds; critical investigation or inquiry, as opposed to the positive assumption or assertion of certain principles.

3. (Theol.) A doubting of the truth of revelation, or a denial of the divine origin of the Christian religion, or of the being, perfections, or truth of God.

Let no . . . secret skepticism lead any one to doubt whether this blessed prospect will be realized.

S. Miller.

Skepticize Skep"ti·cize intransitive verb To doubt; to pretend to doubt of everything. [ R.]

To skepticize , where no one else will . . . hesitate.

Shaftesbury.

Skerry Sker"ry noun ; plural Skerries . [ Of Scand. origin; confer Icelandic sker , Swedish skär , Danish ski...r . Confer Scar a bank.] A rocky isle; an insulated rock. [ Scot.]

Sketch Sketch noun [ Dutch schets , from Italian schizzo a sketch, a splash (whence also French esquisse ; confer Esquisse .); confer Italian schizzare to splash, to sketch.] An outline or general delineation of anything; a first rough or incomplete draught or plan of any design; especially, in the fine arts, such a representation of an object or scene as serves the artist's purpose by recording its chief features; also, a preliminary study for an original work.

Syn. -- Outline; delineation; draught; plan; design. -- Sketch , Outline , Delineation . An outline gives only the bounding lines of some scene or picture. A sketch fills up the outline in part, giving broad touches, by which an imperfect idea may be conveyed. A delineation goes further, carrying out the more striking features of the picture, and going so much into detail as to furnish a clear conception of the whole. Figuratively, we may speak of the outlines of a plan, of a work, of a project, etc., which serve as a basis on which the subordinate parts are formed, or of sketches of countries, characters, manners, etc., which give us a general idea of the things described. Crabb.

Sketch Sketch transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Sketched ; present participle & verbal noun Sketching .] [ Cf Dutch schetsen , Italian schizzare . See Sketch , noun ] 1. To draw the outline or chief features of; to make a rought of.

2. To plan or describe by giving the principal points or ideas of.

Syn. -- To delineate; design; draught; depict.

Sketch Sketch intransitive verb To make sketches, as of landscapes.

Sketchbook Sketch"book` noun A book of sketches or for sketches.

Sketcher Sketch"er noun One who sketches.

Sketchily Sketch"i·ly adverb In a sketchy or incomplete manner. " Sketchily descriptive." Bartlett.

Sketchiness Sketch"i·ness noun The quality or state of being sketchy; lack of finish; incompleteness.

Sketchy Sketch"y adjective Containing only an outline or rough form; being in the manner of a sketch; incomplete.

The execution is sketchy throughout; the head, in particular, is left in the rough.

J. S. Harford.

Skew Skew adverb [ Confer Dutch scheef . Danish ski...v , Swedish skef , Icelandic skeifr , German schief , also English shy , adjective & intransitive verb ] Awry; obliquely; askew.

Skew Skew adjective Turned or twisted to one side; situated obliquely; skewed; -- chiefly used in technical phrases.

Skew arch , an oblique arch. See under Oblique . -- Skew back . (Civil Engin.) (a) The course of masonry, the stone, or the iron plate, having an inclined face, which forms the abutment for the voussoirs of a segmental arch . (b) A plate, cap, or shoe, having an inclined face to receive the nut of a diagonal brace, rod, or the end of an inclined strut, in a truss or frame. -- Skew bridge . See under Bridge , noun -- Skew curve (Geom.) , a curve of double curvature, or a twisted curve. See Plane curve , under Curve . -- Skew gearing , or Skew bevel gearing (Machinery) , toothed gearing, generally resembling bevel gearing, for connecting two shafts that are neither parallel nor intersecting, and in which the teeth slant across the faces of the gears. -- Skew surface (Geom.) , a ruled surface such that in general two successive generating straight lines do not intersect; a warped surface; as, the helicoid is a skew surface . -- Skew symmetrical determinant (Alg.) , a determinant in which the elements in each column of the matrix are equal to the elements of the corresponding row of the matrix with the signs changed, as in (1), below.

(1) 0 2 -3 -2 0 5 3 -5 0 (2) 4 -1 7 1 8 - 2 -7 2 1

This requires that the numbers in the diagonal from the upper left to lower right corner be zeros. A like determinant in which the numbers in the diagonal are not zeros is a skew determinant , as in (2), above.

Skew Skew noun (Architecture) A stone at the foot of the slope of a gable, the offset of a buttress, or the like, cut with a sloping surface and with a check to receive the coping stones and retain them in place.

Skew Skew intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Skewed ; present participle & verbal noun Skewing .] 1. To walk obliquely; to go sidling; to lie or move obliquely.

Child, you must walk straight, without skewing .

L'Estrange.

2. To start aside; to shy, as a horse. [ Prov. Eng.]

3. To look obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly or suspiciously. Beau. & Fl.

Skew Skew transitive verb [ See Skew , adverb ] 1. To shape or form in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.

2. To throw or hurl obliquely.

Skewbald Skew"bald` adjective Marked with spots and patches of white and some color other than black; -- usually distinguished from piebald , in which the colors are properly white and black. Said of horses.

Skewer Skew"er noun [ Probably of Scand, origin; confer Swedish & Danish skifer a slate. Confer Shuver a fragment.] A pin of wood or metal for fastening meat to a spit, or for keeping it in form while roasting.

Meat well stuck with skewers to make it look round.

Swift.

Skewer Skew"er transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Skewered ; present participle & verbal noun Skewering .] To fasten with skewers.

Ski Ski noun Same as Skee .

Skiagraph Ski"a·graph noun Ski*ag"ra*phy noun , etc. See Sciagraph , Sciagraphy , etc.

Skiascope, Sciascope Ski"a·scope, Sci"a·scope noun [ Greek ... a shadow + -scope .] (Medicine) A device for determining the refractive state of the eye by observing the movements of the retinal lights and shadows. -- Ski*as"co*py , Ski*as"co*py noun

Skid Skid (skĭd) noun [ Icelandic skīš a billet of wood. See Shide .] [ Written also skeed .] 1. A shoe or clog, as of iron, attached to a chain, and placed under the wheel of a wagon to prevent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan; also, by extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the same purpose.

2. A piece of timber used as a support, or to receive pressure. Specifically: (a) plural (Nautical) Large fenders hung over a vessel's side to protect it in handling a cargo. Totten. (b) One of a pair of timbers or bars, usually arranged so as to form an inclined plane, as form a wagon to a door, along which anything is moved by sliding or rolling. (c) One of a pair of horizontal rails or timbers for supporting anything, as a boat, a barrel, etc.

Skid Skid transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Skidded ; present participle & verbal noun Skidding .] 1. To protect or support with a skid or skids; also, to cause to move on skids.

2. To check with a skid, as wagon wheels. Dickens.

Skid Skid noun 1. (Aėronautics) A runner (one or two) under some flying machines, used for landing.

2. [ From the v. ] Act of skidding; -- called also side slip .

Skid Skid intransitive verb 1. To slide without rotating; -- said of a wheel held from turning while the vehicle moves onward.

2. To fail to grip the roadway; specif., to slip sideways on the road; to side-slip; -- said esp. of a cycle or automobile.

Skid Skid transitive verb (Forestry) To haul (logs) to a skid and load on a skidway.

Skid road Skid road (Logging) (a) A road along which logs are dragged to the skidway or landing; -- called also travois, or travoy, road . (b) A road having partly sunken transverse logs (called skids ) at intervals of about five feet.

Skiddaw Skid"daw` noun (Zoology) The black guillemot. [ Prov. Eng.]

Skidder Skid"der noun One that skids; one that uses a skid; specif.: (Logging) (a) One that skids logs. (b) An engine for hauling the cable used in skidding logs. (c) The foreman of a construction gang making a skid road.

Skidpan Skid"pan` noun See Skid , noun , 1. [ Eng.]

Skied Skied imperfect & past participle of Sky , transitive verb

Skiey Ski"ey adjective See Skyey . Shelley.

Skiff Skiff noun [ French esquif , from Old High German skif , German schiff . See Ship .] A small, light boat.

The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff .

Milton.

Skiff caterpillar (Zoology) , the larva of a moth ( Limacodes scapha ); -- so called from its peculiar shape.

Skiff Skiff transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Skiffed ; present participle & verbal noun Skiffing .] To navigate in a skiff. [ R.]

Skiffling Skif"fling noun (Quarrying) Rough dressing by knocking off knobs or projections; knobbing.

Skilder Skil"der intransitive verb To beg; to pilfer; to skelder. [ Prov. Eng.& Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

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