skirt

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The part of a garment, such as a dress or coat, that hangs freely from the waist down.
2. n. A garment hanging from the waist and worn by women and girls.
3. n. A part or attachment resembling the skirt of a garment, especially:
4. n. One of the leather flaps hanging from the side of a saddle.
5. n. The lower outer section of a rocket vehicle.
6. n. A flexible strip hanging from the base of an air-cushion vehicle.
7. n. A piece of fabric that extends over or beyond something to afford protection.
8. n. An outer edge; a border or margin: a base camp on the skirt of the mountain.
9. n. The edge, as of a town; the outskirts.
10. n. Offensive Slang A woman.
11. v. To lie along or form the edge of; border: the creek that skirts our property.
12. v. To pass around rather than across or through: changed their course to skirt the storm.
13. v. To pass close to; miss narrowly: The bullet skirted an artery.
14. v. To evade, as by circumlocution: skirted the controversial issue.
15. v. To lie along, move along, or be an edge or a border.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The lower and hanging part of a coat or other garment; the part of a garment below the waist.
2. n. A woman's petticoat; the part of a woman's dress that hangs from the waist; formerly, a woman's lap.
3. n. A hanging part, loose from the rest: as, the skirt of a saddle. See cut under saddle.
4. n. A narrow frill, corresponding to what would now be called a ruffle.
5. n. Border; edge; margin; extreme part: as, the skirts of a town.
6. n. In milling, the margin of a millstone.
7. n. Milit., same as base, 2.
8. n. The midriff or diaphragm: so called from its appearance, as seen in butchers' meat. Also skirting.
9. To border; form the border or edge of; move along the edge of.
10. To be or live on the border; also, to move along a border, shore, or edge.
11. Specifically, in hunting, to go round hedges and gates instead of jumping over or breaking through: said of a man or dog.
12. A dialectal form of squirt.

Wiktionary

1. n. An article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body.
2. n. The part of a dress or robe that hangs below the waist.
3. n. pejorative, slang A woman.
4. n. A part that serves as a border or edging.
5. v. To be on or form the border of.
6. v. To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The lower and loose part of a coat, dress, or other like garment; the part below the waist.
2. n. obsolete A loose edging to any part of a dress.
3. n. Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
4. n. A petticoat.
5. n. The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals.
6. v. To cover with a skirt; to surround.
7. v. To border; to form the border or edge of; to run along the edge of.
8. v. To be on the border; to live near the border, or extremity.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
2. n. (Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar
3. v. form the edge of
4. v. avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
5. v. extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle.
6. n. informal terms for a (young) woman
7. n. a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women
8. v. pass around or about; move along the border