skirt

/skərt/

/skət/

Other forms: skirts; skirted; skirting

Unlike pants, which fully cover each of your legs separately, a skirt is basically a single piece of fabric covering part of your legs. If you want to show a little leg, wear a skirt!

Skirts can be very short (like a miniskirt) or so long they drag on the ground. Long ago, skirt was also rude slang for a young woman. As a verb, skirt means "go around," like when you skirt a city instead of driving straight through it. The word outskirts, "outer parts or fringes" is related.

Definitions of skirt

1. noun

   a garment hanging from the waist; worn mainly by girls and women
   types:

   ballet skirt, tutu

   very short skirt worn by ballerinas

   culotte

   a divided skirt

   full skirt

   a long skirt gathered at the waist

   gathered skirt

   a skirt whose fabric is drawn together around the waist

   grass skirt

   a skirt made of long blades of grass

   hobble skirt

   a long skirt very narrow below the knees, worn between 1910 and 1914

   crinoline, hoopskirt

   a skirt stiffened with hoops

   kilt

   a knee-length pleated tartan skirt worn by men as part of the traditional dress in the Highlands of northern Scotland

   lavalava

   a skirt consisting of a rectangle of calico or printed cotton; worn by Polynesians (especially Samoans)

   maxi

   a long skirt ending below the calf

   mini, miniskirt

   a very short skirt

   overskirt

   an outer skirt worn over another skirt

   sarong

   a loose skirt consisting of brightly colored fabric wrapped around the body; worn by both women and men in the South Pacific

   dirndl

   a full skirt with a gathered waistband

   type of:

   garment

   an article of clothing
2. noun

   cloth covering that forms the part of a garment below the waist
   type of:

   cloth covering

   a covering made of cloth
3. noun

   (Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar
   synonyms: annulus

   type of:

   plant part, plant structure

   any part of a plant or fungus
4. noun

   informal terms for a (young) woman
   synonyms: bird, chick, dame, doll

   type of:

   fille, girl, miss, missy, young lady, young woman

   a young woman
5. verb

   form the edge of
   type of:

   border, bound

   form the boundary of; be contiguous to
6. verb

   extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
   synonyms: border, environ, ring, surround

   types:

   fringe

   decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe

   gird, girdle

   put a girdle on or around

   cloister

   surround with a cloister

   close in, enclose, inclose, shut in

   surround completely

   hem in

   surround in a restrictive manner

   cloister

   surround with a cloister, as of a garden

   insert, tuck

   fit snugly into

   wall in, wall up

   enclose with a wall

   bower, embower

   enclose in a bower

   enshrine, shrine

   enclose in a place of worship

   case, encase, incase

   enclose in, or as if in, a case

   bury, eat up, immerse, swallow, swallow up

   enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing

   border, frame, frame in

   enclose in or as if in a frame

   glass, glass in

   enclose with glass

   bank

   enclose with a bank

   dike, dyke

   enclose with a dike

   encapsulate

   enclose in a capsule or other small container

   fence, fence in

   surround with an enclosure

   cordon off, rope in, rope off

   divide by means of a rope

   casket

   enclose in a casket

   corral

   enclose in a corral

   fort, fortify

   enclose by or as if by walls around a stronghold

   hedge, hedge in

   enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges

   hedge

   hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge

   type of:

   adjoin, contact, meet, touch

   be in direct physical contact with; make contact
7. verb

   pass around or about; move along the border
   “The boat skirted the coast”

   type of:

   go by, go past, pass, pass by, surpass, travel by

   move past
8. verb

   avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
   “she skirted the problem”

   synonyms: circumvent, dodge, duck, elude, evade, fudge, hedge, parry, put off, sidestep

   types:

   beg, beg the question

   dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted

   quibble

   evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections

   type of:

   avoid

   stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something