Skew definition | Dictionary.com

skew

[skyoo]

–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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Skew

Spanish:

torcido,

German:

schief,

Japanese:

斜めの

View 30 other languages »

skew   (skyōō) Pronunciation Key
v.   skewed, skew·ing, skews

v.   intr.

To take an oblique course or direction.
To look obliquely or sideways.

v. tr.

To turn or place at an angle.
To give a bias to; distort.

adj.

Placed or turned to one side; asymmetrical.
Distorted or biased in meaning or effect.
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 © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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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skew
adjective
1.	having an oblique or slanting direction or position; "the picture was skew"
verb
1.	turn or place at an angle; "the lines on the sheet of paper are skewed" [ant: adjust]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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skew (sky

) Pronunciation Key
A transformation of coordinates in which one coordinate is displaced in one direction in proportion to its distance from a coordinate plane or axis. A rectangle, for example, that undergoes skew is transformed into a parallelogram. Also called shear.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Skew

Skew\, adv. [Cf. D. scheef. Dan. ski?v, Sw. skef, Icel. skeifr, G. schief, also E. shy, a. & v. i.] Awry; obliquely; askew.

Skew

Skew\, a. 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, n.

Skew curve (Geom.), a curve of double curvature, or a twisted curve. See Plane curve, under Curve.

Skew gearing, or Skew bevel gearing (Mach.), 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 53 -5 0 (2) 4 -1 71 8 -2-7 2 1

Note: 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\, n. (Arch.) 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\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skewed; p. pr. & vb. n. 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\, v. t. [See Skew, adv.]

1. To shape or form in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.

2. To throw or hurl obliquely.