Contextualizebeta

skelly

noun
/ˈskɛli/

Etymology

Probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *skjelga ("to squint"; found only in the reflexive skjelgask (“to come askew; squint the eyes”)), from Proto-Germanic *skilgijaną (“to squint”), from Proto-Germanic *skelhaz, *skelhwaz, *skelgaz (“slanted; sloping; squinting”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“to bend; crook”). Compare Danish skele (“to squint”), Swedish skela (“to squint”), Scots skellie, scalie, skellice (“to squint; look to the side”), German schielen (“to squint”).

  1. derived from *(s)kel-✻
  2. derived from *skelhaz✻
  3. derived from *skilgijaną✻

Definitions

  1. A squint.

  2. To squint.

    • "It is he—it is the very man," said Bothwell, "skellies fearfully with one eye?"

  3. To look at

  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. A skeleton, especially a human one.

      • We went spelunking in some caves and got quite the scare when we found some skellies in there.

    2. Alternative form of skully (“street game of flicking caps”).

    3. A surname from Irish.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA