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Skew

 - 3 dictionary results

skew

  [skyoo]
Use Skew in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to turn aside or swerve; take an oblique course.
2. to look obliquely; squint.
–verb (used with object)
3. to give an oblique direction to; shape, form, or cut obliquely.
4. Slang. to make conform to a specific concept, attitude, or planned result; slant: The television show is skewed to the young teenager.
5. to distort; depict unfairly.
–adjective
6. having an oblique direction or position; slanting.
7. having a part that deviates from a straight line, right angle, etc.: skew gearing.
8. Mathematics. (of a dyad or dyadic) equal to the negative of its conjugate.
9. (of an arch, bridge, etc.) having the centerline of its opening forming an oblique angle with the direction in which its spanning structure is built.
10. Statistics. (of a distribution) having skewness.
–noun
11. an oblique movement, direction, or position.
12. Also called skew chisel. a wood chisel having a cutting edge set obliquely.
Origin:
1350–1400; (v.) ME skewen to slip away, swerve < MD schuwen to get out of the way, shun, deriv. of schu (D schuw) shy 1 ; (adj.) deriv. of the v. (prob. influenced by askew ); (n.) deriv. of the v. and adj.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Skew
skew   (skyōō)   
v.   skewed, skew·ing, skews

v.   intr.

  1. To take an oblique course or direction.

  2. To look obliquely or sideways.

v.   tr.

  1. To turn or place at an angle.

  2. To give a bias to; distort.

adj.  

  1. Placed or turned to one side; asymmetrical.

  2. Distorted or biased in meaning or effect.

  3. Having a part that diverges, as in gearing.

    1. Mathematics Neither parallel nor intersecting. Used of straight lines in space.

    2. Statistics Not symmetrical about the mean. Used of distributions.

n.  An oblique or slanting movement, position, or direction.

[Middle English skewen, to escape, run sideways, from Old North French eskiuer, of Germanic origin.]
skew'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

skew  (v.)
c.1470, from O.N.Fr. eskiuer "shy away from, avoid," O.Fr. eschiver (see eschew). Meaning "depict unfairly" first recorded 1872, on notion of being slanted. Statistical sense dates from 1929. The adj. meaning "slanting, turned to one side" is recorded from 1609; noun meaning "slant, deviation" first attested 1688.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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