sketch 
picture as far as they were capable ; after which he re- 
touched the whole himself. 
Ili'i/nolils, on Mason's trans, of Dufresnoy's Art of Paint- 
ling, note 11. 
Sketching with her slender pointed foot 
Some figure like a wizard pentagram 
On garden gravel. Tennyson, The Brook. 
= Syn. To portray. See outline, n. 
II. ii< traits. 1. To make a sketch; present 
essential facts or features, with omission of 
details. 
\Ve have to cut some of the business between Borneo 
and Juliet, because it's too long, yon know. . . . But we 
sketch along through the play. 
llowells, Annie Kilbnrn, xv. 
2. Specifically, in art, to draw in outline or 
with partial shading: as, she sketches cleverly, 
sketchability (skech-a-bil'i-ti), re. [< sketch- 
able + -itij (see -bilif//).'] " The character or 
quality of being sketchable; especially, the 
capacity for affording effective or suggestive 
sketches. 
In the wonderful crooked, twisting, climbing, soaring, 
burrowing Genoese alleys the traveller is really up to his 
neck in the old Italian sketchability. 
H. James, Jr., Portraits of Places, p. 48. 
sketchable (skeeh'a-bl), a. [< sketch + -able.'] 
Capable of being sketched or delineated; suit- 
able for being sketched; effective as the sub- 
ject of a sketch. 
Madame Gervaisais is a picture of the visible, sketchable 
Rome of twenty-five years ago. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XLIII. 507. 
In the town itself, though there is plenty sketchable, 
there is nothing notable save the old town cross. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 492. 
I noted, here and there, as I went, an extremely sketch- 
able effect. H. James, Jr., Portraits of Places, p. 362. 
Sketch-block (skech'blok), n. A block or pad 
of drawing-paper prepared to receive sketches. 
Also called sketching-block. 
Sketch-book (skech''buk), n. 1. A book made 
with blank leaves of drawing-paper, adapted 
for use in sketching; hence, a printed book 
composed of literary sketches or outlines. 
2. A book in which a musical composer jots 
down his ideas, and works out his preliminary 
studies. 
Sketcher (skech'er), . [< sketch, n., + -er 1 .] 
One who sketches. 
I was a iltetcher then ; 
See here my doing : curves of mountain, bridge, 
Boat, island, ruins of a castle. 
Tennyson, Edwin Morris. 
sketcbily(skech'i-li),rt<fo. In a sketchy or slight 
manner. 
The hair of the Hermes seems rather roughly and 
sketchily treated, in comparison with the elaborate finish 
of the body. C. T. Newton, Art and Archa?ol., p. 351. 
sketchiness (skech'i-nes), n. The state or qual- 
ity of being sketchy. 
Daumier's Mack sketchiness, so full of the technical 
gras, the fat which French critics commend, and which we 
have no word to express. The Century, XXXIX. 409. 
sketching-block (skech'ing-blok), n. Same 
as sketch-block. 
Sketch-map (skech'map), n. A map in mere 
outline. 
A small sketch-map of the moon. 
Pop. Sri. Mo., XXXI. 480. 
Sketchy (skech'i), o. l< sketch + -y 1 .] 1. Hav- 
ing the form or character of a sketch ; sug- 
gesting in outline rather than portraying by 
finished execution : as, a sketchy narrative. 2. 
Characteristic of a sketch ; slight ; undetailed ; 
unfinished. 
It can leave nothing to the imagination, nor employ any 
of that loose and sketchy brilliancy of execution by which 
Cnting gives an artificial appearance of lightness to 
ms. Knight, On Taste. (Jodrell.) 
skevent, [ME. skevayne, skyveyn, < OP. esque- 
vin, escheviii, F. echevin = It. scabino, < ML. sca- 
bimis,<OI-<G.sccpeno, MLG. schepene, schepen = 
MD. D. schepen = OHG. scaffin, sccffin, scaffino, 
seeffino, scefino, schepheno, MHG. scheffen, 
schepfe, scheffe, schopfe, schopf, schophf, Q. 
schoffe, a sheriff, bailiff, steward ; prob. orig. 
' orderer,' < OLG. *scapan = OHG. scaffan = AS. 
scapan, sceapan, etc., form, shape, arrange, or- 
der, etc. : see shape.'} A steward or bailiff ; an 
officer of a gild next in rank to the alderman. 
Also ordeyned it is, be assent of the bretheryn, to chese 
an Aldirman to reule the Company, and four skeuaynes to 
kepe the goodes of the gilde. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 48. 
Skevington's daughter. See scavenger's daugh- 
ter, under scavenger. 
skew 1 (sku), v. [Formerly also skiew, skue, 
scue; < ME. skewen, "skueti, turn aside, slip 
away, escape, < OD. scuwen, MD. schuwen, 
5669 
schouwen, D. schuwen = MLG. schmi-en, LG. 
schuwen, neltoue>t =OH(i. xciihei/, MfaJw,]fHG. 
xchiuhi-it, m-l/iinrcii, G. scheuchen, schcuen, get 
out of the way, avoid, shun; from the adj.: D. 
xrlnnr, etc., = AS. sceoh, shy : see shy 1 , a., and 
cf. shy 1 , r., which is nit. a doublet of skew, v. 
The word appears to have nothing to do with 
Icel. skeifr = Sw. skef = Dan. skjeev = T). scherf 
= North. Fries. skiaf= G. schief, oblique (which 
is represented in E. by the dial. skiff%, and of 
which the verb is Sw. skefva, look askance, 
squint, = Dan. skjeevc, slant, slope, swerve, 
look askance), or with Icel. a ska, askew, skadhr, 
askew, which are generally supposed to be con- 
nected.] I. intraits. If. To turn aside ; slip or 
fall away ; escape. 
Skilfulle skomfyture he skiftez as hym lykez, 
Is none so skathlye may skape, ne skewe fro his handes. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1662. 
And should they see us on our knees for blessing, 
They'd scue aside, as frighted at our dressing. 
Whiting, Albino and Bellama (1638). (ffares.) 
2. To start aside; swerve; shy, as a horse. 
[Prov. Eng.] 3. To move or go obliquely; 
sidle. 
To skue or walk skuing, to waddle, to go sideling along. 
E. Phillips, World of Words (1706). 
Child, you must walk straight, without sinewing and 
shailing to every step you set. 
Sir R. L' Estrange. (Latham.) 
4. To look obliquely; squint; hence, to look 
slightingly or suspiciously. 
To Skeu'e, limis oculis spectare. 
Levitts, Manip. Vocab. (1570), p. 94. 
Whenever we find ourselves ready to fret at every cross 
occurrent, ... to slug in our own performances, to skew 
at the infirmities of others, take we notice first of the 
impatience of our own spirits, and condemn it. 
Bp. Sanderson, Sermons (1681), xxi. (Latham.) 
II. trans. 1. To turn aside; give an oblique 
direction to ; hence, to distort; put askew. 
Skew your eie towards the margent. 
Stanihurst, p. 17. (Balliwell.) 
2. To shape or form in an oblique way. 
Windows broad within and narrow without, or skewed 
and closed. 1 Ki. vi. 4 (margin). 
To ikue or chamfret, viz. to slope the edge of a stone, as 
masons doe in windowes, &c., for the gaining of light. 
Cotgrave. 
3. To throw or hurl obliquely. Imp. Diet. 
4. To throw violently. Compare shy" 2 . Halli- 
well. 
skew 1 (sku), a. [Formerly also skue, scue; < 
skew 1 , v.] 1. Having an oblique position; 
oblique; turned or twisted to one side: as, a 
skew bridge. 
Several have imagin'd that this skue posture of the axis 
is a most unfortunate and pernicious thing. 
Bentley, Sermons, viii. 
2. Distorted; perverted; perverse. 
Com. Sen. Here 's a gallemaufry of speech indeed. 
Mem. I remember, about the year 1602, many used this 
skew kind of language. A. Brewer (?), Lingua, iii. 5. 
3. In math., having disturbed symmetry by cer- 
tain elements being reversed on opposite sides ; 
also, more widely, distorted Skew antipoints, 
four points, the vertices of an imaginary tetrahedron, 
all the edges of which are of zero length except two, 
which are perpendicular to each other and to the line 
joining their middle points. Skew arch, in arch. See 
oreAi. Skew badk. (a) In arch., that part of a straight 
or curved arch which recedes on the springing from 
the vertical line of the opening. In bridges it is a 
course of masonry forming the abutment for the vous- 
soirs of a segmental arch, or, in iron bridges, for the 
ribs. (6) A casting on the end of a truss to which a tension- 
rod may be attached. It may form a cap, or be shaped to fit 
the impost. E. H. Knight. Skew bridge, a bridge placed 
at any angle except a right angle with the road or stream 
over which it is built. Skew chisel, (a) A turning or 
wood-working chisel having the edge oblique and a basil 
on each side, (b) A carvers' chisel having the shank bent 
to allow the edge to reach a sunken surface. E. H. Knight. 
Skew circulant. See circulant. Skew curve, a 
curve in three dimensions. So skew cubic, skew Cartesian, 
etc. Skew determinant. See determinant. Skew 
facets, the long triangular facets bordering the girdle of 
a brilliant, and situated between the templets or bezels 
and the girdle of the stone. There are eight skew facets 
on the crown or upper side, and eight on the pavilion 
or lower side. See brilliant, 1. Also called cross-facets. 
Skew gearing, a gearing of which the cog-wheels have 
their teeth placed obliquely so as to slide 
into one another without clashing. It is 
used to transmit motion between shafts at 
an angle to each other, and with their axes 
not in the same plane. E. H. Knight. 
Skew hellcold, a screw-surface. Skew 
Invariant, an invariant which changes its 
sign when a; and ?/ are interchanged. skew Gearing. 
Skew plane, in joinery, a plane in which 
the mouth and the edge of the iron are obliquely across 
the face. Skew polygon, product, quadrilateral. 
See the nouns. Skew-rabbet plane. See rabbet-plane. 
Skew reciprocal, a locus in line-coordinates propor- 
tional to the poinkcoordinat.es of another locus, or vice 
versa. Skew surface, a ruled surface in which two 
skewer 
successive generators do not In general intersect. So 
skew guadric, etc. Skew symmetric determinant. 
See determinant. Skew symmetry, that symmetry 
which characterizes hemiheural crystals, more particu- 
larly those of the gyroidal type, as the trapezohedral forms 
common with quartz. Skew table, in arch., a course 
of skews, as a slanting coping (on a gable), or any similar 
feature. Skew Wheel, a form of bevel-wheel having 
the teeth formed obliquely on the rim. Compare skew 
gearing. 
skew 1 (sku), n. [< skew 1 , v,, in part < skew 1 , a.] 
1. A deviation or distortion ; hence, an error; 
a mistake. 
Thus one of the many skews in the Harleian Catalogue 
was set straight. 
Booke o/ Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.),p. xvil. 
2. An oblique glance ; a squint. 
Whatever good works we do with an eye from his and 
a skew unto our own names, the more pain we take, the 
more penalty of pride belongs unto us. 
Rev. 8. Ward, Sermons, p. 9. 
3. A piebald or skew-bald animal, especially a 
horse. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 4. A skew 
wheel. 5. In arch., the sloping top of a but- 
tress where it slants off against a wall ; a coping 
mounting on a slant, as that of a gable ; a stone 
built into the base-angle of a gable, or other 
similar situation, to support a coping above. 
Compare skew-corbel, below. Skew-corbel, in 
arch., a stone built into the base of a gable to support 
A, A, Skew-corbels. 
the skews or coping above, and resist their tendency to 
slide down from their bed. Also called summer-stone, 
skew-pul, and skew. Skew-fillet, a fillet nailed on a root 
along the gable coping to raise the slates there and throw 
the water away from the joining. Skew-put. Same as 
skew-corbel. 
skew 1 (sku), adv. [< skew 1 , a. Cf. askew.] 
Aslant; aslope; obliquely; awry; askew. Hal- 
liwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
To look skew, or a-skew, to squint or leer. 
E. Phillips, World of Words (1706). 
skew 2 t, n. An obsolete variant of sky 1 . 
skew 3 (sku), n. Same as scow. 
Skew 4 t, . [Origin obscure.] A cup. [Old 
slang.] 
This is Bien Bowse, this is Bien Bowse, 
Too little is my Skew. 
I bowse no Lage, but a whole Gage 
Of this I'll bowse to you. 
Brome, Jovial Crew, it 
skew-bald (sku'bald), a. [< skew 1 + bald 1 . 
Cf . piebald.] Spotted in an irregular manner ; 
piebald: used especially of horses, strictly, pie- 
bald applies to horses spotted with white and black, skew- 
bald to such as are spotted with white and some other color 
than black. [Obsolete or provincial.] 
You shall find 
Og the great commissary, and, which is worse, 
Th' apparatour upon his skew-bal'd horse. 
Cleaveland, Poems (1651). (Nares.) 
Tallantire drove his spurs into a rampant, skewbald 
stallion with china-blue eyes. 
R. Kipling, Head of the District. 
skewed (skud), p. a. [< ME. skewed, skued; < 
skew 1 + -ed2.] 1. Turned aside; distorted; 
awry. 
This skew'd eyed carrion. 
Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, Iv. 1. 
2f. Skew-bald; piebald. 
The skewed goos, the brune goose as the white 
Is not fecounde. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 26. 
Some be flybytten, 
Some skewed as a kytten. 
Skelton, Elynonr Rummyng, 1. 142. 
skewer (sku'er), . [Orig. a dial, form of 
skiver, a skewer (cf. skiver-wood, skewer-wood, 
dog_wood, of which skewers are made), an un- 
assibilated form of shiver, a splinter of wood 
(cf. Sw. skiffer=: Dan. skifer, slate): see shiver 1 .] 
1 . A pin of wood or iron for fastening meat to 
a spit or for keeping it in form while roasting. 
Send up your meat well stuck with skewers, to make It 
look round and plump. Swift, Advice to Servants (Cook). 
2. A bobbin-spindle fixed by its blunt end into 
a shelf or bar in the creel. E. S. Knigh t. 
skewer (sku'er), v. t. [< skewer, .] To fasten 
with skewers; pierce or transfix, as with a 
skewer. 
Of duels we have sometimes spoken : how . . . mess- 
mates, flinging down the wine-cup and weapons of reason 
