SKIRT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does skirt mean? 

• SKIRT (noun)
  The noun SKIRT has 4 senses:

1. cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist

2. a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women

3. (Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar

4. informal terms for a (young) woman

  Familiarity information: SKIRT used as a noun is uncommon.

• SKIRT (verb)
  The verb SKIRT has 4 senses:

1. avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

2. pass around or about; move along the border

3. form the edge of

4. extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle

  Familiarity information: SKIRT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SKIRT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("skirt" is a kind of...):

cloth covering (a covering made of cloth)

Meronyms (parts of "skirt"):

lap; lap covering (the part of a piece of clothing that covers the thighs)

seat (the cloth covering for the buttocks)

Holonyms ("skirt" is a part of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("skirt" is a kind of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Meronyms (parts of "skirt"):

kick pleat (pleat in back of a straight skirt to allow ease in walking)

placket (a piece of cloth sewn under an opening)

slide fastener; zip; zip fastener; zipper (a fastener for locking together two toothed edges by means of a sliding tab)

sunburst pleat; sunray pleat (knife pleat cut on the bias to produce a flared effect)

hemline (the line formed by the lower edge of a skirt or coat)

box pleat (a flat double pleat made by folding under the fabric on either side of it)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "skirt"):

culotte (a divided skirt)

sarong (a loose skirt consisting of brightly colored fabric wrapped around the body; worn by both women and men in the South Pacific)

overskirt (an outer skirt worn over another skirt)

mini; miniskirt (a very short skirt)

maxi (a long skirt ending below the calf)

lavalava (a skirt consisting of a rectangle of calico or printed cotton; worn by Polynesians (especially Samoans))

kilt (a knee-length pleated tartan skirt worn by men as part of the traditional dress in the Highlands of northern Scotland)

crinoline; hoopskirt (a skirt stiffened with hoops)

hobble skirt (a long skirt very narrow below the knees, worn between 1910 and 1914)

grass skirt (a skirt made of long blades of grass)

gathered skirt (a skirt whose fabric is drawn together around the waist)

full skirt (a long skirt gathered at the waist)

ballet skirt; tutu (very short skirt worn by ballerinas)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

annulus; skirt

Hypernyms ("skirt" is a kind of...):

plant part; plant structure (any part of a plant or fungus)

Domain category:

Fungi; fungus kingdom; kingdom Fungi (the taxonomic kingdom including yeast, molds, smuts, mushrooms, and toadstools; distinct from the green plants)

Holonyms ("skirt" is a part of...):

partial veil (membrane of the young sporophore of various mushrooms extending from the margin of the cap to the stem and is ruptured by growth; represented in mature mushroom by an annulus around the stem and sometimes a cortina on the margin of the cap)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Informal terms for a (young) woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bird; chick; dame; doll; skirt; wench

Hypernyms ("skirt" is a kind of...):

fille; girl; miss; missy; young lady; young woman (a young female)

• SKIRT (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

circumvent; dodge; duck; elude; evade; fudge; hedge; parry; put off; sidestep; skirt

Context example:

he evaded the questions skillfully

Hypernyms (to "skirt" is one way to...):

avoid (stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "skirt"):

beg (dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted)

quibble (evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Pass around or about; move along the border

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The boat skirted the coast

Hypernyms (to "skirt" is one way to...):

go by; go past; pass; pass by; surpass; travel by (move past)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Form the edge of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "skirt" is one way to...):

border; bound (form the boundary of; be contiguous to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

border; environ; ring; skirt; surround

Context example:

The forest surrounds my property

Hypernyms (to "skirt" is one way to...):

adjoin; contact; meet; touch (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "skirt"):

fringe (decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe)

gird; girdle (put a girdle on or around)

cloister (surround with a cloister)

close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)

hem in (surround in a restrictive manner)

cloister (surround with a cloister, as of a garden)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

 Context examples 

“Now, let us calmly define our position, Watson,” he continued as we skirted the cliffs together.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember that I thought it, in form, more like a riding-habit with the superfluous skirt cut off, than anything else.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A twelve-mile gallop will dry feet and skirt.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"So far away!" and Jo left her skirts to their fate, as if it didn't matter now what became of her clothes or herself.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The blue arms flew out, and there were the skirt and the two feet fixed in the door again.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Madge's skirts were something he never quite accepted.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Then I skirted among the woods until I had regained the rear, or shoreward side, of the stockade, and was soon warmly welcomed by the faithful party.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendour.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

From the deck of the Mariposa, at the sailing hour, he saw Lizzie Connolly hiding in the skirts of the crowd on the wharf.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He skirted the frowning shores on rim ice that bent and crackled under foot and upon which they dared not halt.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)