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skirted - 2 dictionary results

skirt

[skurt]
–noun
1. the part of a gown, dress, slip, or coat that extends downward from the waist.
2. a one-piece garment extending downward from the waist and not joined between the legs, worn esp. by women and girls.
3. some part resembling or suggesting the skirt of a garment, as the flared lip of a bell or a protective and ornamental cloth strip covering the legs of furniture.
4. a small leather flap on each side of a saddle, covering the metal bar from which the stirrup hangs.
5. Building Trades.
a. baseboard (def. 1).
b. apron (def. 13).
6. Also called apron. Furniture.
a. a flat horizontal brace set immediately beneath the seat of a chair, chest of drawers, or the like, to strengthen the legs.
b. Also called bed, frieze. a flat brace or support immediately beneath a tabletop.
7. Usually, skirts. the bordering, marginal, or outlying part of a place, group, etc.; the outskirts.
8. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a woman or girl.
9. Rocketry. an outer part of a rocket or missile that provides structural support or houses such systems as avionics or gyroscopes.
–verb (used with object)
10. to lie on or along the border of: The hills skirt the town.
11. to border, wrap, or cover with a skirt or something suggesting a skirt in appearance or function.
12. to pass along or around the border or edge of: Traffic skirts the town.
13. to avoid, go around the edge of, or keep distant from (something that is controversial, risky, etc.): The senator skirted the issue.
14. to remove low-grade wool and foreign matter from (the outer edge of fleece).
–verb (used without object)
15. to be or lie on or along the edge of something.
16. to move along or around the border of something.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME skirte < ON skyrta shirt


skirtless, adjective
skirtlike, adjective


13. evade, shun, circle, bypass.
skirt   (skûrt)   
n.  
  1. The part of a garment, such as a dress or coat, that hangs freely from the waist down.
  2. A garment hanging from the waist and worn by women and girls.
  3. A part or attachment resembling the skirt of a garment, especially:
    1. One of the leather flaps hanging from the side of a saddle.
    2. The lower outer section of a rocket vehicle.
    3. A flexible strip hanging from the base of an air-cushion vehicle.
    4. A piece of fabric that extends over or beyond something to afford protection.
  4. An outer edge; a border or margin: a base camp on the skirt of the mountain.
  5. skirts The edge, as of a town; the outskirts.
  6. Offensive Slang A woman.
v.   skirt·ed, skirt·ing, skirts

v.   tr.
  1. To lie along or form the edge of; border: the creek that skirts our property.
  2. To pass around rather than across or through: changed their course to skirt the storm.
  3. To pass close to; miss narrowly: The bullet skirted an artery.
  4. To evade, as by circumlocution: skirted the controversial issue.
v.   intr.
To lie along, move along, or be an edge or a border.

[Middle English, from Old Norse skyrta, shirt; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
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