| 释义 |
▪ I. skirt, n.|skɜːt|
Forms: 4–7 skirte (6 -the, 7 scirte), 4– skirt (6 schirt, 7 skeart); 4–6 skyrte (5 -tte, scyrtte), 5–6 skyrt; 5–6 skurte, 8 scurt; 6 skort.
[a. ON. skyrta (Icel. skyrta, Norw. sjørte, sjorte, sjurte; MSw. skiurta, skiorta, Sw. skjorta, Da. skjorte) shirt, = OE. scyrte: see shirt n. The development of the Eng. sense is obscure, but the corresponding LG. schört has in some districts the sense of ‘woman's gown’.]
I.
1. a. The lower part of a woman's dress or gown, covering the person from the waist downwards; also, esp. in modern use, a separate outer garment serving this purpose. † In ME. occas. = lap n. 4 b.
divided skirt, a form of skirt divided in the middle and presenting the appearance of full knickerbockers; also, a skirt made in two widths and open back and front, used in riding or cycling.
a1300Cursor M. 8963 Sco lift hir skirt wit-vten scurn, And bar-fote wode sco þat burn. c1440Gesta Rom. xlvi. 188 (Add. MS.), The woman..toke his hede into her skirthe, and he began strongely for to slepe. c1440Alph. Tales 398 When þe childe was born it was broght & layd in hur skurte. 1535Coverdale Lam. i. 9 Ierusalem synned euer more & more... Hir skyrtes are defyled, she remembred not what wolde folowe. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 37 In a long purple pall, whose skirt with gold Was fretted all about, she was arayd. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Two Noble Kinsmen ii. ii, This is a pretty colour, wi'lt not do Rarely upon a skirt, wench? 1670in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 21 Upon the Queene's Birthday most wore embraudered bodys with plaine black skirts of Morella Mohair and Prunella. 1845S. Judd Margaret i. xiv, She put on her white muslin tunic and pink skirt. 1885‘V. Lee’ Let. in P. Gunn V. Lee (1964) x. 127 A very bright blue paper dress suggestive of divided skirts and ulster to match. 1890Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Sept. 7/1 A divided skirt..is the clumsiest..article that a woman can put on. 1899Conan Doyle Duet (1909) 105/2 With a swift rustle of skirts, she was between the door and his chair.
fig.1857W. T. Matson Resurgam Poems (1858) 142 When Darkness gathers up the skirts of gloom.
b. A woman; the skirt, women collectively. a bit of skirt: a woman; esp. an attractive one. Now slang.
1560Rolland Seven Sages 52 Now thow thy tale hes tauld,..Bot not gottin thow wald, licht skirt for all thy skippis. 1899C. J. C. Hyne Further Adv. Capt. Kettle xii. 298 If any of you rats of men shove your way down here..before all the skirt is ferried across [etc.]. 1914S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn iv. 55 Pete was..singing hoarsely, ‘Dey was a skoit and 'er name was Goity.’ 1916C. J. Dennis Doreen & Sentimental Bloke 89 Skirt, or bit of skirt, a female. 1928D. H. Lawrence Woman who rode Away 283 And what about your American skirt?—I told him, there was nothing to say about her. 1934J. Brophy Waterfront ii. 42 A nice juicy bit of skirt, eh? 1958‘N. Culotta’ They're a Weird Mob 190 ‘Reckon we better stick ter beer?’ ‘Until them other two skirts turn up.’ 1974K. Millett Flying (1975) v. 469 The two patriarchs, never tired of chasing twenty-year-old skirts in their old age. 1977J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe xx. 280 They mustn't quarrel over a bit of skirt.
c. An underskirt or petticoat.
1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Industr. Dept., Brit. Div. II. No. 3674 Counterpanes, toilette-covers, skirts. Ibid. No. 4935 Spiral Crinoline Steel and Bronze for Ladies' Skirts. 1908M. E. Morgan How to dress Doll v. 51 The flannel skirt is cut from a straight piece of fine white flannel.
2. a. The lower part of a man's gown or robe. Now chiefly Hist. or with reference to Eastern countries.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7884 Þe kyng..anon vp stirt, Bot Hengist laughtym by þe skirt, & held hym as stille as ston. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 865 [A robe] þat sete on hym semly, wyth saylande skyrtez. a1400Morte Arth. 3473 Many schredys and schragges at his skyrttes hynnges. c1440Alph. Tales 65 He grapid in his bosom & fand xij d of gold, & he keste þaim in þis wude preste skyrte. 1535Coverdale Ps. cxxxii[i]. 2 It..ranne downe vnto the beerd,..& wente downe to the skyrtes of his clothinge. 1598Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i, Or wilie Cyppus, that can winke and snort Whiles his wife dallyes on Mæcenas skort. 1784Cowper Task ii. 822 In the skirts Of the rob'd pedagogue. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vii, I saw the skirts of his garments ascending up those steps in the rock. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 105 He stretched forth his hand, and lifted up the skirts of his clothing.
fig.1884Fortn. Rev. June 754 He proudly lifts his skirts lest they should trail in the mire of antiquated Conservatism.
b. The bottom, lower portion, or tail of a coat or similar garment. Chiefly pl.
1598Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 29 If he ha's a quarter of your coat, there is but three Skirts for your selfe. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 92 Because he could not come to kisse his hand, he reverently kissed the skirt of his armour. 1659–60Pepys Diary 1 Jan., I rose, put on my suit with great skirts, having not lately worn any other clothes but them. 1711Steele Spectator No. 145 ⁋7 The Skirt of your [men's] fashionable Coats forms as large a Circumference as our Petticoats. 1802James Milit. Dict. s.v., The whole of the British army formerly wore skirts to their coats. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxiv, ‘For God's sake, what is it?’ Mr. Chopper said, catching the Captain by the skirt.
3. In various phrases, denoting close approach or adherence to some person or thing; in earlier use esp. to sit on (upon or in) one's skirts, to press hard upon one, to deal heavily with, to punish severely. to hide behind the skirts of, to take refuge behind, to use for protection.
(a)1546Heywood Prov. (1867) 10, I shall to reveng former hurtis..syt on theyr skurtis That erst sate on mine. 1577Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed (1808) VI. 32 They would not..forget nor forgive so horrible a murther, but were fullie resolved..to sit in their skirts. c1630Bp. Sanderson Serm. II. 271 Adversaries; who..might sit closer upon their skirts than formerly, and do them a shrewder turn for it another day. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 184 Many began..to sit upon the Bishops skirts, that is, to controvert the motes and bounds of their authority. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 12 He'll be sure to sit like Pitch on his Skirts. 1755Smollett Quix. ii. iii. xv. (1803) IV. 75 If my government holds,..I will sit upon the skirts of more than one of these men of business.
(b)1579G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 67 To have everyon in continuall ielouzye lest he sitt over neere there schirtes. 1584[see sit v. 14 a]. 1809Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ⁋65 A Sicilian gentleman..determined to stick in my skirts, and either ruin or marry me. 1813Examiner 24 May 335/2 He..need not come skulking in under the skirt of a borough⁓monger. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxvi, That amiable virgin, having clung to the skirts of the Law from her earliest youth. 1867Longfellow Dante, Inf. xv. 40 Therefore go on; I at thy skirts will come. 1938G. Graham Swiss Sonata 356 Is she hiding behind your skirts too? 1975Current Hist. Dec. 230/2 In terms of foreign dominance, Thailand asserted her independence from China only as she was able to hide behind the skirts of the Western giants, Great Britain, France and, most important, the United States.
II.
4. a. One of the flaps or lower portions of a saddle. Also saddle skirt, saddle n. 12.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 601 Þe apparayl of þe payttrure, & of þe proude skyrtez, Þe cropore, & þe couertor, acorded wyth þe arsounez. c1450Merlin xxxiii. 683 [He] smote the horse with the spores on bothe sides faste by the skirtes of his sadell, for his legges were so shorte. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 94/1 The Skirts, the covers of the side of the [saddle] tree, which are Fringed and wrought, and sometime plain. 1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6136/3 A brown quilted Saddle marked J. H. on the near Side Skirts. 1736Carte Life Ormonde II. 13 This letter was sowen up in the skirt of a saddle. 1866Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 415/1 A saddle consists of the wooden frame or saddle-tree, the skirts or padded under-flaps [etc.].
b. The rim or base of a bell or bee-hive.
1555Inv. Ch. Goods (Surtees) 147 One lytle bell..being..xxxth ynces about the skyrtes. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. iv. (1623) K ij, The Bees..otherwise might be prest to death betweene the two skirts. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 462/1 The Skirt, the bottom of the Bell. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 275 Some reckon it better to place the Hive..into another, in a place that the skirts may be uppermost. 1736Bailey Househ. Dict. s.v. Bees, When you buy a new hive, try it..whether there be not a hollowness some where or other in the skirt.
c. The border, rim, outer portion, extremity, or tail-end of anything. Also techn. (see later quots.) and fig.
1566in Sidneiana (Roxb.) 4 A Post-script by my Lady Sidney, in the skirts of my L. Presidents Letter. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 174 Shasses, that is, striped linnen..wound about the skirts of a little cap. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 436 Onely the skirts of their lungs were tainted. 1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. ix. 169 Skirts, Projecting of the Eaves. 1725E. W. Amorous Bugbears 18, I began to noch down my Observations upon the Skirts of my Memory. 1805Wordsworth Waggoner iii. 58 And to the waggon's skirts was tied The Creature. 1829P. Nicholson in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VI. 237/2 In the seven diagrams [of roofs] here referred to, the side BC is supposed to be the skirt next to the wall. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2196/2 The skirt or external periphery of a millstone; e.g. from the eye to the skirt the leader-furrows run. 1951Gloss. Aeronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) iii. 15 Skirt, the lower portion of the canopy [of a parachute]. 1962J. Glenn et al. in Into Orbit 245 Parachutes used on Mercury capsules are reefed by means of ropes tied around the skirt of the parachute. 1964J. L. Nayler Dict. Astronautics 252 Skirt, the lower outer part of a rocket vehicle. It acts as a fairing to the rocket motor or booster. 1969Times 22 July (Moon Rep. Suppl.) p. iii/7 There's one picture I'm taking now of the right rear of the spacecraft looking at the skirts of the descent stage. 1970Gloss. Aeronaut. & Astronaut. Terms (B.S.I.) vi. 2 Skirt, an ærodynamic fairing to influence the airflow in the vicinity of the propelling nozzles.
d. Naut. A side or leech of a sail.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. v. 23 The Leech of a saile is the outward side of a skirt of a saile. 1711Milit. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) s.v. Brayls, Brayls..are fasten'd to the Creengleys at the Skirt of the Sail. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 119 We hoisted a skirt of the Mainsail, and edged further off. 1851Kipping Sailmaking (ed. 2) 4 In all quadrilateral sails..the sides, or skirts, are called the leeches.
e. A surface that conceals or protects the wheels or underneath of a vehicle or aircraft; spec. (a) a detachable panel concealing part of the wheel of a car and fitted flush with the bodywork; (b) a surface designed to deflect the air so as to produce a downward force on the car aerodynamically.
1912C. B. Hayward Practical Aeronautics 286 There are six landing wheels forward, three on each side of the center and enclosed in what is termed a ‘skirt’. 1953Frazee & Spicer Automotive Collision Work i. 55 Sometimes fender skirts are used on the rear fenders of cars. These skirts cover the wheel opening and are attached to the fender by clamps. 1965M. C. Oaks Fell's Guide to Mobile Home Living vi. 97 Many mobile home owners enclose the space beneath their mobile homes with skirts or siding. These skirts..provide enclosed storage space, protect your tires from the sun, and..provide extra insulation. 1974Country Life 21 Mar. 659/1 The Triumph Dolomite Sprint..is recognized by its..discreet spoiler beneath the front skirt. 1981Times 5 Feb. 13/1 The South African Grand Prix will take place at Kyalmi... The cars will be equipped with skirts, almost certainly for the last time. 1981Sci. Amer. Aug. 25/3 Most new main battle tanks have lightly armored ‘skirts’ to cover vulnerable treads and wheels.
f. Mech. The lower part of the curved surface of a piston in a piston engine, below the grooves for piston rings. Also piston skirt.
1913W. E. Dommett Motor Car Mech. 12 For the sake of lightness and more particularly for use on racing cars, holes are drilled around the lower part or skirt of the piston and two rings only may be used. 1929Newton & Steeds Motor Vehicle vi. 57 In order that finer clearances may be used without risk of seizure, many different designs of semi-flexible skirt have been introduced. 1970K. Ball Fiat 600, 600 D Autobook i. 14/2 In each case, the number is on the opposite side to the slot in the piston skirt.
g. A flexible surface that projects downwards underneath a hovercraft to contain or divide the air-cushion.
1962Daily Tel. 12 Apr. 15/7 The cushion of pressurised air can take any proportion of the weight off the wheels. It is in an adjustable synthetic rubber ‘skirt’ below the waist-line of the vehicle. 1968Economist 7 Sept. 81/1 The skirt of the hovercraft is one of its most sensitive parts. If the design is not right, the ride is uncomfortable and skirt edges flap up and down on the surface of the sea causing excessive wear. 1977Hovering Craft & Hydrofoil XVII. 18/2 SEDAM, the French manufacturer, claims that their skirt is better than ours, but these claims will be put to the acid test when the N 500 and the SR.N4 Mk 3 run alongside each other on the Channel next year.
5. A rim or border; an edging. rare.
1576Baker Jewell of Health 30 One of the vessels hath a skirte or edge, wythin which the other is receyved. 1688Holme Armoury iii. 325/2 By these Pincers two edges or Skirts of Lead are turned one over the other. 1713Addison Guard. No. 118 ⁋3 This consists of a narrow lace, or a small skirt of fine ruffled linnen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before.
6. a. The diaphragm or midriff of an animal, esp. as used for food.[In the following quotation the sense is not clear:—1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hunting f iij b, Than shall ye kyt the skyrtis the teeth euen fro.] 1725Family Dict. s.v. Hog's Tongues, Drain them a little, and having cut some Hog's Skirts, according to the Length of the Tongues, let every one be put into its Case, made of those Skirts. 1771E. Haywood New Present for Maid 18 Then the skirt and tripe. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 241 The diaphragm or skirt is also cut off. 1868Daily News 19 June, A considerable portion of the livers and skirts are purchased wholesale by retail dealers in low neighbourhoods. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms (1890) 121 We had a hearty breakfast off the ‘skirt’.
b. (See quot. 1886.)
1881Dr. Gheist, An Autobiogr. fr. Midlands 66 His menu is varied enough, and ranges from ‘skirts of casalty mutton’ up to the primest joints. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 674 Skirts or Skirting. Used by butchers. The trimmings or loose pieces taken off from the carcass after being ‘dressed’. Also the loose pieces of wool mixed with dung on a fleece.
c. Chiefly pl. = skirting vbl. n. 5.
1851F. A. Weld Hints to Intending Sheep-Farmers N.Z. 8 The Merino has the more valuable wool, being finer, and particularly superior in the ‘skirts’, which are remarkably deficient in the crossed sheep. 1886[see sense b above]. 1965J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry ii. 23 Skirt, skirting. This word is generally used in the plural and refers to the wool round the edge of the fleece which is pulled off by the ‘skirter’..or woolroller... In original English practice the skirts were handled by the ‘wool sorter’..and not processed quite so carefully as in Australia.
III. 7. a. The border, boundary, or outlying part of a territory, country, kingdom, etc. Chiefly in pl.
sing.c1470Henry Wallace v. 905 Rycht at the skyrt off Quenysbery befell,..Schir Jhone the Grayme [etc.]. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. 627 In the very utmost skirt of this Shire. 1847Tennyson Princess v. 210 Upon the skirt and fringe of our fair land.
pl.1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 216 He and his sonnes abroade ransacked, herried, and spoiled, the skirts, and outsides of the whole shyre. 1592Soliman & Perseda i. v, From the other skirts of Christendome Call home my Bassowes. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 139 They hang about the skirts of the habitable countries. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. i. iii. (1710) 19 The Soil [is] not very fertile towards the middle, but rich in the Skirts. 1821Byron Sardan. i. ii. 165 The far shores And skirts of these our realms. 1870Rossetti Poems 31 Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden.
b. pl. The outskirts or outlying parts of a town or city; the suburbs. Also rarely sing.
1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. vii, As I haue walkt alone, in diuers skirts i' the towne, as Turne-bull, White-chappell, Shore-ditch. 1621in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) I. 247 It proseeded estward unto the verye scirtes of the towne. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 72 Collen,..a free city... The middle part of it is well built of Stone.., the Skirts meaner and of Wood. 1728Berkeley Wks. (1871) IV. 149 Inquire in some other skirt or remote suburb. 1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772 51 The Derwent washes the skirts of the town.
c. pl. The parts of an army furthest distant from the centre or main body; the edge, border, or fringe of a crowd, etc.
1533Bellenden Livy ii. xxv. (S.T.S.) I. 232 Þai saw..þe vtir skirtis of þare armye discomfist with grete slauchter. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 26/2 They would ride about the sides and skirts of the enemies host. 1600Holland Livy xl. xxxix. 1085 The charge was alreadie given in the utmost skirts of the armie. 1764Wesley Jrnl. 22 Apr., The skirts of the congregation could not hear. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. v. 237 Squadrons of light cavalry, hovering on the skirts of the Portuguese camp. 1894Hall Caine Manxman vi. xix, An old fisherman on the skirts of the crowd.
8. a. The edge, margin, verge of a wood, lake, cloud, etc.; the foot or lower slopes of a mountain or hill.
sing.1611Cotgr. s.v. Rive, The skirt, edge, or side of a wood. 1632Lithgow Trav. iii. 86, I passed along the skirt of Mount Ida. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 237, I came to the Skirt of the Wood. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 197 Seated under their shade on the skirt of a meadow. 1817J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 20 note, Colter..succeeded in gaining the skirt of the cotton wood trees. 1847Grote Greece ii. lii. (1862) IV. 438 Landing at the skirt of the island.
pl.1598J. Manwood Lawes Forest i. (1615) 19 Meeres and boundaries to know the Ring and uttermost Skirtes of the Forest by. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 294 The people are forbidden to goe vp to the mountaine or to come neere the skirts of it. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 878 To binde The fluid skirts of that same watrie Cloud. 1750G. Hughes Barbados 69 Those which feed in the miry skirts of muddy ponds or rivers. 1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 142 The coals and coal metals trend away in a south-east direction to the skirts of the Moorfoot hills. 1839H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornw., etc. iii. 93 Gray or brown argillaceous slates that range from the skirts of the granite. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life i. iv. 26 After the first ten minutes on the skirts of the wood.
b. Mining. (See quot.)
1747Hooson Miner's Dict. P j, However, that which bounds and limits its [i.e. the vein's] breadth, we never call Sides but the Skirts, or Scurts.
c. The lower sloping portions of a peak or rise on a graph, esp. of one representing electrical resonance.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 775/2 Skirt, the lower side portions of a resonance curve. 1962Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors xiv. 341 This would be partly overcome if the top of the amplitude response curve were made flatter and the ‘skirts’ made steeper. 1965Wireless World Sept. 33 (Advt.), Bandwidth skirts are better than 80-dB down. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 43 In such sets..the element is arranged in the form of a bandpass coupling or filter, giving sharp response skirts while handling signals in the required bandwidth.
9. a. In figurative use, after senses 7 and 8.
1629Whitlock in Rushw. Hist. Coll. (1659) I. 688 Now we are but upon the brink and skirts of the Cause. 1648–9Eikon Bas. 135 The differences are but the skirts and suburbs of Religion. 1820Keats Isabella xxxix, I am a shadow now, alas! alas! Upon the skirts of human-nature dwelling. 1839J. H. Newman Par. Serm. IV. xxiii. 383 It sees the skirts of powers and providences beyond this world.
b. The beginning or end of a period of time. Chiefly pl.
1624B. Jonson Neptune's Triumph Wks. (Rtldg.) 642/2 To draw down a cup of nectar, in the skirts of a night. 1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. ix. 285 Snow..may fall..on the Day, or upon the Skirts of the Day, upon the precise Aspect. 1823Galt R. Gilhaize III. xxiv. 222 It was then the skirt of the afternoon. 1857Heavysege Saul (1869) 55 Seven days I waited,—ay, till the skirts o' the term Had disappeared.
10. a. A tract or piece of land forming a border, edge, or side of a river, country, etc. ? Obs.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuff Wks. (Grosart) V. 227 The skirt or lappet of earth whereon it stands. 1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iv. 25 The Canaanites..were crouded up in that narrow skirt of Phenicia. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) ii. 70 Spots and Skirts of more desireable Land upon the Banks of some Rivers.
b. A number of trees, etc., surrounding or bordering a place.
1617Moryson Itin. iii. 74 They call it a Towne, when they have compassed a skirt of wood with trees cut down. 1835W. Irving Tour Prairies xxiv, A skirt of thickets hid the approach of the supposed enemy from our rear. 1885G. Allen Babylon xxix, A broad skirt of unoccupied hillocks.
11. attrib. and Comb. (in sense 1 or 2), as skirt-braid, skirt-clasp, skirt-fold, skirt-guard, skirt-length, skirt-lining, skirt-pocket, etc.; skirt-like adj.; skirt-board, (a) = skirting-board; (b) a board to iron skirts on; skirt-chaser slang, one who pursues women with amorous attentions; hence skirt-chase v. intr.; skirt-chasing vbl. n.; skirt-dancing, a form of ballet dancing in which the steps are accompanied by the manipulation of long flowing skirts or drapery; so skirt-dancer, skirt-dance n. and vb.; skirt duty slang, (a) acting in a way designed to attract men; (b) keeping company with women, regarded as a military duty; † skirt-foist, a female cheat; skirt-knicker(s) (see quot. 1913); skirt-land, land having skirt soil (see below); skirt patrol slang (orig. U.S.) (see quot. 1941); skirt soil, a loam composed of a mixture of peat and clay or sand or silt (cf. skirty a.).
1690Leybourne Curs. Math. 901 Other Works about a Building..: As, Contaliver Cornice,..*Skirt board,..&c. 1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 1013 The skirts of muslin dresses should be ironed on a skirt-board covered with flannel. 1932D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 107/2 Almost indispensable to successful dress⁓making are..sleeve and skirt board for pressing, [etc.].
1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxi, A row of entire skins of that animal hung from the *skirt border.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlwk. 451/1 *Skirt braids..are made of Alpaca and Mohair.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §438/2 Lascivious man... *Skirt or woman chaser. 1962L. Peters Snatch of Music iii. 45 He had always despised..the indiscriminate skirt-chaser. 1974L. Lamb Man in Mist xvi. 106, I don't suppose that Settle is a skirt chaser. He probably wanted to frighten the girl away.
1943J. B. Priestley Daylight on Saturday xi. 70 Don't be a dam' fool, Percy. I'm not *skirt-chasing. 1950‘S. Ransome’ Deadly Miss Ashley xiv. 167, I always told you you'd regret your skirt-chasing... A man should stick with his wife and family. 1981D. Boggis Time to Betray vii. 40 Chevalier went skirt-chasing at a disco.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2196 [*Skirt-clasp, -elevator, -protector, etc.]
1894Cornh. Mag. Feb. 206 The girls who could not *skirt-dance yawned behind their fans. 1895G. B. Shaw Let. 1 Nov. in E. Terry & B. Shaw (1931) 17 Mrs Pat Campbell entrances all London as Juliet, with a skirt dance. 1961Wodehouse Ice in Bedroom vi. 47, I feel like dancing a skirt dance. 1974D. Smith Look back with Love xii. 113 There was usually one skirt-dance, during which the boys lolled..looking tolerant and slightly cynical.
1895G. B. Shaw in Sat. Rev. 6 Apr. 445/1 Our *skirt dancers are all petticoats. 1922Skirt-dancer [see high-kicker s.v. high a. 21].
1892Pall Mall G. 24 Mar. 1/2 It should be the very thing for *skirt-dancing.
1922Joyce Ulysses 758 He was throwing his sheeps eyes at those two doing *skirt duty up and down. 1925in Amer. Speech 1972 (1975) XLVII. 102 That evening, Jim detailed himself to some more ‘skirt duty’.
a1652A. Wilson Inconstant Ladie iv. ii, I do not like that *skirtfoist. Leave your bouncing!
1932C. Morgan Fountain ii. ii. 100 A woman's bicycle with the broken strings of its *skirt-guard dangling in a melancholy fringe over its spokes. 1982J. Hone Valley of Fox vii. 105 A big, black old-fashioned woman's bicycle, with cord skirt-guards forming a fan over the back wheel.
1908in C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing in Present Cent. (1952) ii. 84 The *skirt-knickers which the up-to-date maiden delights in. 1913Queen 13 Dec. 1091/2 The tango and peg-top fashion between them are responsible for an entirely new form of skirt-knicker... The characteristic of the new garment..is that it is formed entirely of one length of material falling from the waist in front to the knees and up again to the waist at the back, slits or openings occurring at the sides through which the legs are passed.
1946J. W. Day Harvest Adventure x. 145 Those cows are fed for more than nine months of the year on by-products of the farm—such as beet-tops, beet-pulp, kale—and on *skirt-land, and marsh grazings. 1981P. Salway Roman Britain 268 The skirtlands of the southern Fens were the worst hit by these troubles.
1920T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 1/1 *Skirt Lengths 35 ins. 37 ins. 38 ins. 1980L. Lewis Private Life Country House xii. 166 Skirt lengths remained what you had been wearing for some time.
1862W. C. Bryant Tale of Cloudland in Poet. Wks. (1883) II. 315, I plainly saw a chariot cushioned deep With sides that seemed of down, and *skirt-like wings On which they nestled. 1980Motor 16 Feb. 31/1 Deep, ‘skirt-like’ door sills.
1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlwk. 451/2 As a rule, alpaca and silecia are the principal materials in use for *Skirt Linings.
1941Amer. Speech XVI. 168/2 *Skirt patrol, search for feminine companionship. 1967Skirt patrol [see OAO s.v. O 5 d].
1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxi, The knife—..an inconvenient and dangerous article for a *skirt-pocket.
1960Times 5 July (Suppl. on Agric.) p. vi/3 Lying between the areas of silt and peat there are indeterminate areas of what are now called ‘*skirt’ soils. The soil physicist has classified them as organic silty clay loams. 1968Economist 27 Apr. 52/2 Only two-thirds of the original acreage of peat in the fens—over 300,000 acres—are now covered with more than a ‘skirt soil’.
▪ II. skirt, v.|skɜːt|
[f. the n.]
I. trans.
1. Chiefly of, or with reference to, natural features, scenery, or surroundings:
a. To form the skirt or edge of; to lie alongside of; to bound or border.
1602Carew Cornwall ii. 127 b, The little parish called Temple, skirteth this Hundred, on the waste side thereof. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) II. 2 [They] dragged them headlong with them, down the precipices which skirted the road. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vi. 69 The western coast is of less extent..by reason of the Andes which skirt it. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 254 Those vast and trackless forests that skirted the settlements. 1843Portlock Geol. 520 The granite appears to skirt the great mass of altered schists and hornblendic rocks. 1879Dixon Windsor II. vii. 73 The gardens skirted the river-side.
fig.1817Chalmers Astron. Disc. iv. (1852) 92 That boundary which skirts and which terminates the material field of his contemplations.
b. In pa. pple., const. with or by.
1717Addison tr. Ovid's Met. iii. Death Pentheus, A spacious circuit..Level and wide, and skirted round with wood. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. i. 121 A very narrow path skirted on each side by precipices. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, A fair and fertile champaign country..skirted by the picturesque ridge of the Pentland Mountains. 1872Coues N. Amer. Birds 107 In the fall, the black feathers of the crown of the adult are skirted with ash.
fig.1847Emerson Poems, Dæmonic Love, So is man's narrow path By strength and terror skirted.
2. To surround, edge, or border, with something.
1667Milton P.L. v. 282 The middle pair Girt like a Starrie Zone his waste, and round Skirted his loines and thighes with downie Gold. 1746J. Hervey Medit. (1818) 209 See how the declining sun has beautified the western clouds..and skirted them with gold. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v. Sail, The edges of the cloths,..of which a sail is composed, are generally sewed together with a double seam: and the whole is skirted round at the edges with a cord. 1828Campbell Lines on Departure Emigrants N.S. Wales 27 To skirt our home with harvests widely sown.
b. To provide with an edging or border.
1787Builder's Price-bk. 39 Dado..level, skirted, and caped.
c. To turn up at the skirts.
1848Clough Bothie ii. 96 With blue cotton gown skirted up over striped linsey-woolsey.
3. Of persons, ships, etc.: To go or pass along the border, edge, or side of (a country, district, etc.); to go round, in place of crossing.
1735Somerville Chase ii. 204 The Covert's utmost Bound Slily she skirts. 1808Scott Marm. ii. viii, And now the vessel skirts the strand. 1865W. G. Palgrave Arabia II. 182 Near sunset we skirted a large reedy swamp. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile xxii. 684 Skirting some palm-groves and crossing the dry bed of a canal.
fig.1817Coleridge Biogr. Lit. (Bohn) 70 They..enabled me to skirt, without crossing, the sandy deserts of utter unbelief.
b. To scour or search the outskirts of (a wood, etc.). rare.
1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 231 They past..by us, without skirting or searching the wood. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, All who have gone out to skirt the forest..bring back the same news.
4. dial.
a. To plough in a certain manner (see skirting vbl. n. 2).
c1795Wolcot (P. Pindar) Rights of Kings vii. Wks. 1816 II. 193 Time.., Who, with that ease a farmer skirts his land, Furrows so cruelly o'er the fairest face. 1796–[see skirting vbl. n. 2]. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 462 In the South Hams the land is skirted (ploughed so as to miss a portion).
b. To trim (a hedgerow); to dress (a fleece) by removing the ragged edges.
1879Norfolk Archæol. VIII. 173 The sides of the highways are skirted in autumn. 1883Leisure Hour 244/1 This is called ‘skirting’ the fleece... The fleece, when skirted, is rolled up, and we now follow it to the classer's table.
II. intr.
5. a. Of persons: To travel, move, hang about, etc., on the outskirts or confines of something, or in a casual manner.
1623tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. v. i. 37 [He] made himselfe Master of Denmarke and Norway, whence he went and skirted on [F. aborder] the Gaules. 1768G. White Selborne xiii, [He] passed through that kingdom on such an errand; but he seems to have skirted along in a superficial manner. 1827J. F. Cooper Prairie I. xvii. 245 Lest the sons of the squatter should be out skirting on our trail. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. i. vii. Brunswick is skirting and rounding, laboriously, by the extremity of the South. 1869Blackmore Lorna Doone xliv, Then I set off up the valley, skirting along one side of it.
fig.1900Westm. Gaz. 31 Jan. 2/1 It may have been due to the fact that he had to skirt round under the bluff of Mr. Henry Chaplin.
b. Of hunting-dogs: To leave the pack when following the scent or in a chase.
1781Beckford Thoughts Hunting (1802) 61 Should a favourite dog skirt a little, put him to a thorough line-hunting bitch. 1842C. J. Apperley Life Sportsman xvii, The two most acknowledged faults [of a hound] are running mute and skirting. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports i. ii. iv. 119 The defects which should especially be avoided are..mute running,..skirting, or a tendency to leave the rest of the pack.
6. a. Of roads, rivers, etc.: To lie or run along or round the edge or border of a place, etc.
1776Gibbon Decl. & F. i. (1782) I. 30 A sandy desert..skirts along the doubtful confine of Syria. 1859Sir J. E. Tennent Ceylon II. vii. ii. 138 As the path ascends it skirts round scarped acclivities. 1863Hawthorne Our Old Home (1879) 56 The Leam..skirts along the margin of the Garden.
b. Of strata: To crop out.
1806Forsyth Beauties Scotl. III. 84 Many of the strata below it..have skirted out at the surface, and are no longer found. |