skulkn.
/skʌlk/, U.S. /skəlk/ 1. One who skulks or hides himself; a shirker.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > skulking > skulker
skulkc1320
skulker1387
flincher1598
quitter1665
slink1824
turnback1843
sneakaway1900
trouble-shirker1908
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > lurking, skulking > [noun] > one who lurks
skulkc1320
lurkera1325
skulker1387
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > [noun] > avoiding an action or condition > avoiding duty, work, or exertion > one who
skulkc1320
loundererc1425
old soldier1722
malingerer1785
skulker1785
shirker1799
shirk1818
slink1824
schemer1843
sconcer1843
scrimshanker1882
scrimshank1886
sooner1892
Weary Willie1896
slacker1898
slackster1901
sugarer1904
work-shy1904
gold brick1905
tired Tim (also Timothy)1906
lead-swinger1917
piker1917
gold-bricker1919
slinker1919
poler1938
skiver1941
c1320 P. de Langtoft Chron. (Rolls) II. 248 The roghe raggy sculke Rug ham in helle!
1838 Knickerbocker 11 448 Spotswood had told the middie that Tudor was a great ‘skulk’, and would probably be reluctant to turn out.
1847 H. Melville Omoo iv ‘Where's that skulk, Chips?’ shouted Jermin down the forecastle scuttle.
1894 R. D. Blackmore Perlycross I. xiii. 199 You are an honest fellow, Jemmy, whatever skulks and sneaks may say.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > lurking, skulking > [noun] > one who lurks > group of
skulkc1450
c1450 in Trans. Philol. Soc. (1909) 25 A Skolke of freris. A Skolke of thewys. A Skolke of foxys.
1486 Bk. St. Albans f vj b A Skulke of Theuys [etc.].
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. xxxij/1 Ony persone or persones..that make ony sculke or be a receyuer or a gederar of euyl company.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 502/1 He shall doe [miracles] in hys catholike church, and suffereth none to be done among all the scoulkes of heretykes.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil Descr. Liparen in tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis 95 An armoure..wheare scaals be ful horriblye clincked Of scrawling serpents, with sculcks of poysoned adders.
1594 O. B. Questions Profitable Concernings 10 Notwithstanding all this, there remained a sculke of such, as neither care nor castigation could amend.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Sculk, (among Hunters) a Company, as A Skulk of Foxes.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod i. i. 17.
1819 W. Irving Sketch Bk. v. 403 We say a flight of doves.., a skulk of foxes.
1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leics. 380 A cloud of foxes..(the term, an old book told me years ago, should be a sculk of foxes).]
3. An act of skulking.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > lurking, skulking > [noun]
skulking1297
skulkery?a1400
lotingc1400
lurking1563
mitching1577
lusking1579
latitation1623
latitat1647
skulk1858
1858 F. C. L. Wraxall Wild Oats xxv [He] preferred being locked in till twelve, ‘doing a skulk’, as he elegantly termed it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
skulkv.
/skʌlk/, U.S. /skəlk/ 1.
a. intransitive. To move in a stealthy or sneaking fashion, so as to escape notice. Usually with adverbs and prepositions, as about, away, into, etc. †Also reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > softly or stealthily
creepc1175
skulk?c1225
stealc1374
slipc1400
sneak1598
crawl1623
snake1848
slime1898
oil1925
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > undutifulness > [verb (intransitive)] > avoid
skulk?c1225
flinch1578
bludge1919
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > move stealthily [verb (intransitive)]
besteala725
snikec897
steal1154
creepc1175
skulk?c1225
snaker?c1225
stalkc1300
slenchc1330
lurka1375
slinkc1374
snokec1380
slide1382
slipc1400
mitchera1575
sneak1598
snake1818
sly1825
snoop1832
to steal one's way1847
sniggle1881
gumshoe1897
slime1898
pussyfoot1902
soft-foot1913
cat-foot1916
pussy1919
pussa1953
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > lurking, skulking > lurk, skulk [verb (intransitive)]
loutc825
atlutienc1000
darec1000
lotea1200
skulk?c1225
lurkc1300
luskc1330
tapisc1330
lurchc1420
filsnec1440
lour?c1450
slink?c1550
mitch1558
jouk1575
scout1577
scult1622
meecha1625
tappy1706
slive1707
slinge1747
snake1818
cavern1860
α.
β. a1300 Early Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter cxviii. 158 I sagh wemmand and skulked awai.1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 93 Awey he skulketh as an hare.1419 26 Pol. Poems 69 Þe glosers skulked away, for shame of here sooles.c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) l. 2651 Take withe the .iij. hundred knightes..Leste þat lurdeynes come skulkynge oute.1677 W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) I. 209 The Enemy..killing a Man at Weymouth, another at Hingham, as they lay skulking up and down in Swamps and Holes.c1720 M. Prior True's Epitaph 19 He..Ne'er skulk'd from whence his sovereign led him.1804 Naval Chron. 12 338 The enemy..skulking out of Toulon for a mile or two, and then..skulking into port again.1850 D. G. Mitchell Reveries of Bachelor 245 I went up at night, and skulked around the buildings.1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect Long Life II. 382 The peasant, when drunk, skulks to his home from the public-house through by-ways.?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 293 Nis nan þe muchȝe edlutien [?a1289 Scribe D auuey sculkin] þet ha ne mot him luuien.
c1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 1788 Alle thyng it brestes in sonder, Als it sculkes by diverse ways.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 13741 Ne wist þai neuer quat to sai; Bot ilkan sculked þaim awai.
1644 J. Vicars Jehovah-jireh 149 Lord Paulet..took his way toward Myneard, and so to sculk over into Wales.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 24 He was..forced to..creep and sculk into every place for fear of being taken and hanged.
1773 S. Johnson in Boswell Life Johnson (1831) II. 484 It is a poor thing for a fellow to get drunk at night, and sculk to bed.
c1825 M. M. Sherwood Houlston Tracts II. No. 32. 6 The three servants sculked by her to get out of the room.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 525 Plotters and libellers by profession,..who were forced to sculk in disguise through back streets.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΚΠ
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia liv. 211 Man is plotting..some mischief against it [sc. a louse], and that makes it oftentime sculk into some meaner and lower place.
a1694 J. Tillotson Serm. (1748) VIII. clii. 369 As if things..did break forth into being and sculk again into nothing..‘at the beck of his will’.
1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini i. iii. 17 Beware, you do not think, That I by lying arts..have skulk'd into his graces.
1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 32 There are masked words droning and skulking about us in Europe just now.
2. in extended use.1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 7 He stood at bold Defiance with his Prince;..and sculk'd behind the Laws.1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 216 Every rancorous knave..may skulk behind the press of a news-monger..without running the least hazard of detection or punishment.1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighbourhood xxvii But my love did not long remain skulking thus behind the hedge of honour.
a. To hide or conceal oneself, to keep out of sight, to avoid observation, esp. with some sinister motive or in fear of being discovered; to lurk.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, lie or hidden [verb (intransitive)]
mitheeOE
wryOE
darea1225
skulka1300
hidec1330
hulkc1330
dilla1400
droopc1420
shroudc1450
darkenc1475
conceal1591
lie1604
dern1608
burrow1614
obscurea1626
to lie (also stand, stay, etc.) perdu1701
lie close1719
α.
β. a1300 E.E. Psalter xxxviii. 15 To skulke als irain þou made saule his.c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8287 Hengist byforn had don hem skulke In wodes, in hilles, to crepe in hulke.1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 129 Our Ianizaries discharged their harquebuses, lest some should haue skulkt within.1709 W. Dampier Contin. Voy. New-Holland v. 165 She [sc. a boat] seeing us coming that way,..skulked behind a point a while.1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. viii. 96 They told me that they had seen two sailors skulking behind the piles of timber.1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xxiv. 295 Most Mongols would prefer to endure two or three years' imprisonment, to being compelled to skulk for life.in extended use.1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 117 The spontaneous Dilatation..of that little remnant of Ayr skulking in the rugosities thereof.c1750 W. Shenstone Ruin'd Abbey 293 The bigot pow'r Amidst her native darkness skulk'd secure.1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xix. 173 A smile, which..seemed to skulk under his face.γ. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 699/2 A daye tale he scoulketh in corners and a nyghtes he gothe a thevyng.1533 T. More Debellacyon Salem & Bizance ii. xv. f. lxxiiv Heretykes..were wonte but to crepe to gether in corners, and secretely scoulke to gether in lurkes lauys.1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Blotir, to squat, skowke, or ly close to the ground.1659 G. Torriano Florio's Vocabolario Italiano & Inglese To scouke, nascondersi.a1300 E.E. Psalter cxi. 9 Sinful sal se,..And sal sculke to be awai.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 15887 Al þat ilke day he sculked; Among þe pouere men he hulked.
1484 in Litt. Cantuar. (Rolls) III. 311 Sculkynge in wodys be day and lyinge a wayte to robbe the Kynges lyege people.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 217 A Leopard that sculkt in the aforesaid thicket.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 15 Man is a yong Lyon,..lurking and sculking to doe mischiefe.
1736 H. Fielding Pasquin v. 57 The Fox, Wise Beast, who knows the Treachery of Men, Flies their Society, and sculks in Woods.
1806 H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 108 I..must sculk, a dishonourable, an abandoned fugitive.
1894 W. E. Gladstone tr. Horace Odes iii. xii. 22 Sculking where the woods are thick.
b. To hide, to withdraw or shelter oneself, in a cowardly manner. Frequently with behind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, lie or hidden [verb (intransitive)] > remain in hiding
lurkc1300
to hide one's headc1475
mitch1558
nestle1567
to lie at (on, upon the) lurch1578
to lay low1600
skulk1626
squat1658
to lie by1709
hide1872
to hole up1875
to lie low1880
to lie (also play) doggo1882
to hide out1884
to put the lid on1966
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > be cowardly or show signs of cowardice [verb (intransitive)] > shirk or skulk
skulk1626
shirk1778
to funk out1859
duff1883
to chicken out1931
fink1966
wimp1981
cowardize2003
1626 G. Sandys tr. Ovid Metamorphosis xiii. 256 Reuoke the foe, thy wounds, and vsuall feare; Behind my target sculk.
1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar iv. ii. 55 Should a common Souldier sculk behind, And thrust his General in the Front of War.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 231 But counterfeit [modesty] is blind, and skulks through fear, Where 'tis a shame to be ashamed t' appear.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge li. 235 They shall not find us skulking and hiding, as if we feared to take our portion of the light of day.
1877 W. Black Green Pastures & Piccadilly I. xi. 183 I'll fight any one of you—ah! skulk behind the women, do!
c. To shirk duty; spec. to malinger.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > undutifulness > [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > by pretending illness
skulk1781
malinger1820
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > avoid duty, work, or exertion
feignc1300
lurk1551
slug1642
skulk1781
malinger1820
mike1838
shirk1853
slinker1880
scrimshank1882
pike1889
scow1901
spruce1916
to swing the lead1917
bludge1919
to dodge the column1919
skive1919
to screw off1943
to do a never1946
to fuck off1946
to dick off1948
the world > health and disease > ill health > be in ill health [verb (intransitive)] > pretend illness
to maund Abraham1610
malinger1820
skulk1826
soldier1890
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > avoid duty, work, or exertion > by malingering
skulk1826
gold-brick1927
1781 W. Cowper Table Talk 312 Let magistrates alert perform their parts, Not skulk or put on a prudential mask.
1826 A. C. Hutchison Pract. Observ. Surg. (ed. 2) 191 The sick list having been..delivered in to the captain, with a particular mark against the name of every man either sculking or suspected of sculking.
1843 H. Gavin Feigned & Factitious Dis. 23 Marines.., much more than sailors, are found frequently skulking, owing to the severity of their exercise.
1887 W. Besant World Went iv [He] is not one who will skulk, or suffer his crew to skulk.
3. transitive.
a. To shun, keep away from, avoid, in a skulking manner.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > distance or farness > be far from [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun
eschew1377
refrain1534
shift1595
skulka1653
avoid1697
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun
overboweOE
bibughOE
fleea1000
forbowa1000
ashun1000
befleec1000
beflyc1175
bischunc1200
withbuwe?c1225
waive1303
eschew1340
refuse1357
astartc1374
sparec1380
shuna1382
void1390
declinea1400
forbeara1400
shurna1400
avoidc1450
umbeschewc1485
shewe1502
evite1503
devoid1509
shrink1513
schew?a1534
devite1549
fly1552
abstract1560
evitate1588
estrange1613
cut1791
shy1802
skulk1835
side-slip1930
to walk away from1936
punt1969
a1653 Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 8 I'le skulk the place where God hath sent me to.
1835 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 2 377 What school-boy would dare to skulk a fight?
1847 Fraser's Mag. 36 561 Southey, in his wonted mode, skulks the affair of the Bay of Naples.
b. ‘To produce or bring forward clandestinely or improperly.’
ΚΠ
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. (citing Eclectic Rev.)
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1320
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