skill 
For ever as tendre a capoun eteth the fox, 
Thogh he be fals ami hath the foul betrayed, 
As shal the goode niaiv that therfor payed ; 
Al have he to the capoun skille and right, 
The false fox wol have his part at night. 
Cham; f. c, 1 Women, 1. 1392. 
Oure brother & sustir lie is hi xkile, 
For he so aeide, & lorid us that lore. 
I/HIIIHK lu Vifijin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 9. 
4f. Reasoning; argument; proof; also, cause; 
reason. 
Everych hath swich replicacioun 
That non by xA-i7/ may been brought adoun. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 536. 
Agens this ean no clerk skile fynde. 
lliiutiis to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.), p. 20. 
Langere here thu may noghte dwelle; 
The xkylle I sail the telle wherefore. 
Thomas of Enseldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 107). 
I think you have 
As little skill to fear as I have purpose 
To put you to 't. Shalt., \V. T., iv. 4. 152. 
5. Practical knowledge and ability ; power of 
action or execution ; readiness and excellence 
iu applying wisdom or science to practical ends ; 
expertuess ; dexterity. 
The workman on his stutf his skill doth show ; 
And yet the stulf gives not the man his skill. 
Sir J. Danies, Immortal, of Soul, i. 
He hath skill to cure those that are somewhat crazed in 
their wits with their burdens. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 93. 
Was dying all they had the skill to do? 
Lowell, Comm. Ode. 
It is in little more than skill of drawing and modelling 
that the art of Raphael . . . surpasses that of Giotto. 
C. II. Moore, Gothic Architecture, p. 308. 
6f. A particular power, ability, or art ; a gift 
or attainment ; an accomplishment. 
Calchas, for the state of Greece, thy spirit prophetic 
shows 
Skills that direct us. Chaptnan, Iliad, i. S3. 
Not all the skills fltt for a princely dame 
Your learned Muse w'i> youth and studye bringes. 
Puttenham, Partheniades, xii. 
Richard, ... by a thousand princely skills, gathering 
so much corn as if he meant not to return. Fitller. 
7. That for which one is specially qualified ; 
one's forte. [Rare.] 
They had arms, leaders, and successes to their wish ; but 
to make use of so great an advantage was not thir skill. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., iii. 
8f. The number of persons connected with any 
art, trade, or profession ; the craft. 
Hartiall was the cheife of this 'HI among the Latines. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 44. 
= Syn. 5. Facility, knack. See adroit. 
skillagalee, n. See sMlliqalce. 
Skilled (skild), a. [< skill + -e<P.] 1. Hav- 
ing skill ; especially, having the knowledge and 
ability which come from experience; trained; 
versed; expert; adept; proficient. 
thou well skUl'd in curses, stay awhile, 
And teach me how to curse mine enemies! 
Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 116. 
2. Displaying or requiring skill ; involving spe- 
cial knowledge or training : as, skilled labor, 
skilless (skil'les), a. [< ME. skilelses ; < skill 
+ -less.] If. Lacking reason or intellectual 
power; irrational. 
Skilelses swa summe asse. Ormulum, 1. 3715. 
2. Lacking knowledge ; ignorant; uninformed; 
unaware. 
Nor have I seen 
More that I may call men than you, good friend, 
And my dear father ; how features are abroad 
I am skilless of. Shak., Tempest, iii. 1. 52. 
3. Lacking practical acquaintance or experi- 
ence; unfamiliar (with); untrained or un- 
versed; rude; inexpert. 
Skilless as unpractised infancy. Shak. , 1. and C., i. 1. 12. 
A little patience, youth ! 'twill not be long, 
Or I am skilless quite. Keats, Endymion, iii. 
skillet (skil'et), n. [Formerly or dial, also sket- 
let ; < OF. escuellclte, a little dish, dim. of escuelle, 
a dish, F. ecnelle, a porringer, = Pr. escitdella = 
Sp. escudilla = Pg. escitdella = It. scodella, < L. 
scutella, a salver, tray, ML. a platter, dish : see 
scuttle 1 , ^sculler 2 , scullery.'] 1. A small vessel 
of iron, copper, or other metal, generally hav- 
ing a long handle and three or four legs, used 
for heating and boiling water, stewing meat, 
and other culinary purposes. 
Let housewives make a skillet of my helm. 
Shak., Othello, i. 3. 273. 
Yet milk in proper skillet she will place, 
And gently spice it with a blade of mace. 
W. King, Art of Making Puddings, i. 
2. A rattle or bell used by common criers. 
J. Grahame, Birds of Scotland (ed. 1806), 
Gloss., quoted in N. and Q., 7th ser., VII. 322. 
3. A ship's cook; a "pot-wrestler" or pot- 
B671 
walloper. [Slang.] 4. In metttl-tciirking, a 
form into which t lie precious metals are run for 
sale and use as bullion, flatter than an ingot. 
skill-facet (skil'fas"et), n. In ditimond-citttiin/. 
See facet 1 . 
skillful, skillfully, etc. See skilful, etc. 
skilligalee, skilligolee (skiFi-ga-le', -go-le'), 
n. [Also ikittygcuee, xkillygolee, skillagalee, also 
xl-illji ; origin obscure.] A poor, thin, watery 
kind of broth or soup, sometimes consisting of 
oatmeal and water in which meat has been 
boiled ; a weak, watery diet served out to pris- 
oners in the hulks, paupers in workhouses, and 
the like ; a drink made of oatmeal, sugar, and 
water, formerly served out to sailors in the 
British navy. 
skillingH (skil'ing), . [< ME. skylynge; ver- 
bal n. of skill, v.] Reasoning; ratiocination. 
Ryht swych comparison as it is of gkylynge to under- 
stondinge. Chaucer, Boethius, iv. prose 8. 
skilling" (skil'ing), n. Sameasstee/wg'. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
skilling 3 (skil'ing), . [< Sw. Dan. skilling = 
E. shilling.] A money formerly used in Scan- 
dinavia and northern Germany, in some places 
Obverse. Reverse. 
Skilling, in the British Museum. ( Size of the original.) 
as a coin and in others as a money of account. 
It varied in value from id. in Denmark to nearly 
Id. (about 2 cents) in Hamburg. 
In Norway the small currency now consists partly of 
and one-skilling pieces in copper, the skilling 
being nearly equal in value to an English halfpenny, but 
principally of two-, three-, and tom-skilling pieces, com- 
posed of billon. 
Jevons, Money and Mech. of Exchange, p. 126. 
skill-thirstt, . Craving for knowledge ; curi- 
osity. [Rare.] 
Ingratitude, pride, treason, gluttony, 
Too-curious skill-thirst, enuy, felony. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Imposture. 
skilly (skil'i), n. Same as skilligulee. 
skillygalee, skillygolee, . See skilligalee. 
skilpot (skii'pot), K. The slider, or red-bellied 
terrapin. See slider 1 , 2. 
skilts (skilts), n.pl. [Cf. kilt.'} A sort of coarse, 
loose short trousers formerly worn in New Eng- 
land. 
Her father and elder brother wore ... a sort of brown 
tow trousers, known at the time these things happened 
some years ago as skilts ; they were short, reaching just 
below the knee, and very large, being a full half yard broad 
at the bottom. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 2. 
skilty-boots (skil'ti-bots), n. pi. Half-boots. 
Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
skilvmgs(skirvingz), n.pl. [Avar, of *skelving, 
unassibilated form of shelving 1 .] The rails of 
a cart: a wooden frame fixed on the top of a 
cart to widen and extend its size. Halliirell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
skim (skim), v.; pret. and pp. skimmed, ppr. 
skimming. [Avar, of scum, t'.] I. trans. 1. To 
lift the scum from; clear the surface of by re- 
moving any floating matter, by means of a 
spoon, a flat ladle, or the like : as, to skim soup 
by removing the oil or fat ; to skim milk by tak- 
ing off the cream. 
To skimme, despumare. 
Levins, Manip. Vocab. (1570), p. 131. 
Are not you [Puck] he 
That frights the maidens of the villagery; 
Skims milk, and sometime labours in the quern, 
And bootless makes the breathless housewife churn? 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 1. 36. 
2. To lift from the surface of a liquid by a 
sliding movement, as with a paddle, a flat ladle, 
a spoon, or the like ; dip up with or as with a 
skimmer, as cream from milk or fat from soup ; 
hence, to clear away ; remove. 
The natives in these months watch the rivers, and take 
up thence multitudes [of locusts], skimming them from off 
the water with little nets. Dampier, Voyages, an. 1688. 
Whilom I've seen her skim the clouted cream. 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, Friday, 1. 61. 
To purge and skim away the filth of vice, 
That so refln'd it might the more entice. 
Cowper, Progress of Error, 1. 343. 
skimmer 
3. To clear; rid; free from obstacles or ene- 
mies. 
Sir F.dmonde of Holande, erle of Kent, was by the kynge 
made admyrall of the see ; the whiehe storj tl and skymmid 
y<i see ryght well & manfully. Fabyan, Chron., an. 140!l. 
4. To mow. Halliti-ell. [Prov. Eng.] 5. To 
cover with a film or scum; coat over. [Rare.] 
At night the frost skimmed with thin ice the edges of 
the ponds. T. Roosevelt, The Century, XXXVI. 210. 
6. To pass lightly along or near the surface of ; 
move smoothly and lightly over; glide, float, 
fly, or run over the surface of. 
They gild their scaly Backs in Phoebus' Beams, 
And scorn to skim the Level of the Streams. 
Congrevc, Birth of the Muse. 
By the fleet Racers, ere the sun be set, 
The turf of yon large pasture will be skimmed. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, ii. 
7. To pass over lightly in perusal or inspec- 
tion; glance over hastily or superficially. 
Like others I had skimmed, and sometimes read 
With care, the master-pamphlets of the day. 
Wordnvorth, Prelude, ix. 
Mr. Lyon . . . was skimming rapidly, in his shortsight- 
ed way, by the light of one candle, the pages of a mission- 
ary report. George Eliot, Felix Holt, v. 
8. To cause to dart, skip, or ricochet along a 
surface; hurl along a surface in a smooth, 
straight course. 
There was endless glee in skimming stones along the 
surface of the water, and counting the number of bounds 
and curvets that they made. E. Dowden, Shelley, I. 68. 
II. intraiis. 1. To pass lightly and smoothly 
over a surface ; hence, to glide or dart along 
in a smooth, even course. 
A winged Eastern Blast, just skimming o'er 
The Ocean's Brow, and sinking on the Shore. 
Prior, Solomon, iii. 
Nor lighter does the swallow skim 
Along the smooth lake's level brim. 
Scott, Harm ion, vi. 15. 
2. To pass in hasty inspection or considera- 
tion, as over the surface of something; observe 
or consider lightly or superficially. 
There was wide wandering for the greediest eye . . . 
Far round the horizon's crystal air to skim. 
Keats, I Stood Tiptoe upon a Little Hill. 
Thus I entertain 
The antiquarian humour, and am pleased 
To skim along the surfaces of things. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, iii. 
3. To become covered with a scum or film ; be 
coated over. [Rare.] 
The pond had in the mean while skimmed over in the 
shadiest and shallowest coves, some days or even weeks 
before the general freezing. Thoreau, Walden, p. 265. 
skim (skim), w. [A var. of scum, n., but due to 
the verb skim.'] 1. The act of skimming ; also, 
that which is skimmed off. 
I wanted to be the one to tell you the grand surprise, 
and have "first skim," as we used to say when we squab- 
bled about the cream. L. M. Alcott, Little Women, xliii. 
2. Thick matter that forms or collects on the 
surface of a liquor; scum. [Rare.] 
skimback (skim'bak), . [< skim + back.'] A 
fish, the quillback, Carpiodes cyprinus. [Local, 
U. S.] 
skimble-scamble (skim'bl-skam"bl), a. and w. 
[A varied redupl. of scumble.] I. a. Rambling; 
wandering ; confused ; incoherent. 
Such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff 
As puts me from my faith. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 154. 
II. n. Rigmarole; nonsense. 
skimble-scamble (skim'bl-skam"bl), adr. [A 
varied redupl. of seamtle.'] In a confused man- 
ner. Imp. Diet. 
skim-colter (skim'koFter), M. A colter for 
paring off the surface of laud, 
skime (skim), n. [An unassibilated form of 
xliim 1 .] Brightness; gleam. 
The skyme o' her e'eu was like dewy sheen. 
L"ii/f Mary of Craiynethan. 
skimingtont (skim'ing-ton), H. Same as skim- 
mi iiiiton. 
skimish (skim'ish), a. A dialectal form of 
stnteamish. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
skimmer 1 (skim'er), n. [< skim + -erl.] 1. 
One who or that which skims; especially, an 
implement used for skimming. Specifically (o) 
A ladle with a flattened and often perforated bowl, used in 
skimming liquids, as milk, soup, or fruit-juice. 
She struck her with a skimmer, and broke it in two. 
Catskin's Garland (Child's Ballads, VIII. 176). 
(6) A flat shallow pan of metal perforated at the bottom to 
allow liquids to drain through ; a colander. 
As soon as the oysters are opened, they are placed in a 
flat pan with a perforated bottom, called a skimmer, where 
they are drained of their accompanying liquor. 
Fisheries of U. S., V. il. 659. 
