Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cut thin layers off (leather or rubber, for example); pare.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In gem-cutting, same as diamond-wheel .
- In leather manufacturing and lapidary-work, to shave, scarf, or pare off; grind away (superfluous substance).
- To turn up the eyes.
Wiktionary
- n. The iron lap used by diamond polishers in finishing the facets of the gem.
- v. To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of (hides or leather).
- v. To avoid one's assigned work or duty. To slack off.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The iron lap used by diamond polishers in finishing the facets of the gem.
- v. To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of (hides or leather).
WordNet 3.0
- v. remove the surface of
Etymologies
- Of Scandinavian origin; see skei- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“After his family moved from a home close to Parkhead to a flat near Ibrox, Dalglish befriended a young Rangers player called Alex Miller and it was not unknown for him to skive off school in order to hang around the club before cadging favours from a senior pro.”
The Guardian: Kenny Dalglish expects respect but no free ride from Sir Alex Ferguson
“Of course the rehab place, unlike the hospital, makes H do this routinely, and he tries, often successfully, to skive at home.”
“More From The Times Britons to skive off work for Murray semi.”
“Tone of voice after having a skive off work the day before”
“The only reason Lindsay had an alcohol education programme to skive is because her expensive lawyers managed to swing it for her, in order that she might swerve jail time for a previous conviction – an offence that is considerably less easy to sympathise with.”
“The Brazilian culture has achieved true mastery of the art of doing nothing, or as they phrase it "vadiar." vadiar: to lounge about (não trabalhar), to idle about (não estudar), to skive (perambular), to wander”
The Huffington Post: Daniel Cook: What Brazilians Can Teach Us About Relaxation
“I am hoping to convince wifey to let me skive off for a couple of days from Brisbane to go.”
“Run away without saying a word, skive off work, ignore a phone call, etc”
“Also, once every fortnight, weather and surf permitting, we skive off and hit the beach while the kids are at school.”
“The United States defence department would not be drawn if the current naval exercises off the coast of the Korean peninsular were planned specifically to deter a North Korean invasion as millions of South Koreans skive off work to play the game, leaving the country dangerously distracted by Zerg rushes and mastering the new units.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘skive’.
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
GHibbs In the UK 'to skive' is more often (not attending, being absent, malingering or bunking off) from work or school. These ideas are in the examples but not in the definitions. Aug 24, 2011
jberkel Boris: No excuse for 'mass skive'
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7865169.stm) Feb 2, 2009