Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of numerous lizards of the family Scincidae, having a smooth shiny body and large scales on the head, and in some species, small or rudimentary legs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A scincoid lizard; any member of the family Scincidæ in a broad sense, as the adda, Scincus officinalis, to which the name probably first attached.
  • noun Drink; any liquor used as a beverage.
  • noun A skinker. See the quotation.
  • noun A shin-bone of beef; also, soup made with a shin of beef or other sinewy parts.
  • To draw or pour out (liquor); serve for drinking; offer or present (drink, etc.).
  • To fill with liquor; pour liquor into.
  • To draw, pour out, or serve liquor or drink.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Drink; also, pottage.
  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of regularly scaled harmless lizards of the family Scincidæ, common in the warmer parts of all the continents.
  • transitive verb obsolete To draw or serve, as drink.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To serve or draw liquor.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lizard of the Scincidae family, having small or reduced limbs or none at all and long tails that are regenerated when shed.
  • verb Scotland to serve (a drink)
  • noun obsolete drink
  • noun obsolete pottage

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun alert agile lizard with reduced limbs and an elongated body covered with shiny scales; more dependent on moisture than most lizards; found in tropical regions worldwide

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin scincus, from Greek skinkos.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin scincus, from Ancient Greek σκίνκος (skínkos).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English scencan or Old Norse skenkja.

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Examples

  • But the idea of skink control in a space as large as a ladies 'room is frightening.

    Inexpectatus 2010

  • HANNA: A skink is a lizard, but it's a prehensile tail.

    CNN Transcript Jan 1, 2007 2007

  • mcz: Oh, and one of the things I noticed about the skink was the concrete.

    Making Light: Open thread 135 2010

  • The New York Times claims it comes from the Middle High German word for a weak beer, which seems to make some of sense for a thin soup, but the Oxford Companion to Food counters that it's a variation of the German "schinke", or ham, denoting a shin specifically: "so the archetypal skink is a soup made from shin of beef".

    How to cook perfect cullen skink 2012

  • It's utterly delicious – the fish has flavoured the milk beautifully – but so rich that I can only imagine eating it in tiny, restaurant portions, rather than the big steaming bowls I think cullen skink deserves.

    How to cook perfect cullen skink 2012

  • This particular individual had 4 upper labial scales, which would make it a five-lined skink.

    Archive 2009-06-01 AYDIN 2009

  • It is either the common five-lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus) or the broad-headed skink (Eumeces laticeps).

    Archive 2009-06-01 AYDIN 2009

  • Although cullen skink relies upon a certain amount of milk or cream to give it richness, when and how much to add varies wildly.

    How to cook perfect cullen skink 2012

  • Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.

    Modern Science in the Bible Ben Hobrink 2011

  • Rice is nice – think paella, or kedgeree – but this is one of those rare and beautiful unions where both parties shine brighter in each other's company: from poached salmon and Jersey royals to Jansson's temptation and cullen skink, the combination just works.

    How to cook perfect fishcakes 2011

Comments

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  • Scots - a kind of soup.

    December 28, 2007