skirt Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
noun a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women
noun (Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar
annulus.
noun informal terms for a (young) woman
doll; wench; chick; bird; dame.
verb avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
dodge; fudge; sidestep; evade; parry; elude; duck; hedge; circumvent; put off.
- He dodged the issue
- she skirted the problem
- They tend to evade their responsibilities
- he evaded the questions skillfully
verb pass around or about; move along the border
- The boat skirted the coast
verb form the edge of
verb extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
ring; border; environ; surround.
- The forest surrounds my property

OE. skyrt, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. skyrta a shirt, Sw. skört a skirt, skjorta a shirt. See Shirt.

The lower and loose part of a coat, dress, or other like garment; the part below the waist; as, the skirt of a coat, a dress, or a mantle.
A loose edging to any part of a dress. Obs.
A narrow lace, or a small skirt of ruffled linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty piece. Addison.
Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything "Here in the skirts of the forest." Shak.
A petticoat.
The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals. Dunglison.

imperfect & past participle Skirted; present participle & verbal noun Skirting

To cover with a skirt; to surround.
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold. Milton.
To border; to form the border or edge of; to run along the edge of; as, the plain was skirted by rows of trees. "When sundown skirts the moor." Tennyson.

To be on the border; to live near the border, or extremity.
Savages . . . who skirt along our western frontiers. S. S. Smith.