skirt

n.

1. The part of a garment, such as a dress or coat, that hangs freely from the waist down.
2. A garment hanging from the waist and worn by women and girls.
3. A part or attachment resembling the skirt of a garment, especially:
   1. One of the leather flaps hanging from the side of a saddle.
   2. The lower outer section of a rocket vehicle.
   3. A flexible strip hanging from the base of an air-cushion vehicle.
   4. A piece of fabric that extends over or beyond something to afford protection.
4. An outer edge; a border or margin: a base camp on the skirt of the mountain.
5. skirts The edge, as of a town; the outskirts.
6. Offensive Slang. A woman.

v., skirt·ed, skirt·ing, skirts.

v.tr.

1. To lie along or form the edge of; border: the creek that skirts our property.
2. To pass around rather than across or through: changed their course to skirt the storm.
3. To pass close to; miss narrowly: The bullet skirted an artery.
4. To evade, as by circumlocution: skirted the controversial issue.

v.intr.

To lie along, move along, or be an edge or a border.

[Middle English, from Old Norse skyrta, shirt.]

No, it's not just a garment for below the waist. To "skirt," as a verb, means to go around the edges of, or to avoid:

"But the [Lebanese] Cabinet apparently skirted the issue of disarming Hezbollah, a key requirement of the cease-fire that has ended fighting between Israel and the guerrillas."

Link: Lebanon skirts issue of Hezbollah's arms

Posted August 17, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

noun

The periphery of a city or town. edge, environs, fringe, outskirt (often used in plural), suburb (used in plural). See edge/center.

verb

1. To put or form a border on: border, bound², edge, fringe, margin, rim, verge. See edge/center.
2. To pass around but not through: bypass, circumnavigate, circumvent, detour, go around. See seek/avoid.
3. To avoid fulfilling or answering completely: dodge, duck, evade, hedge, sidestep. See seek/avoid.

n

Definition: border, edge
Antonyms: center, inside, interior, middle

v

Definition: avoid; get around
Antonyms: face, meet, take on

v

Definition: border; be on the edge
Antonyms: center

---

n. 1. the curtain that hangs around the base of a hovercraft to contain the air cushion.

2. a surface that conceals or protects the wheels or underside of a vehicle or aircraft.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Abattoir term for diaphragm.

IN BRIEF: n. - A garment hanging from the waist; v. - Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues).

Did the speaker skirt the difficult questions?

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - nederdel, fruentimmer, skørt, krave
v. tr. - løbe langs med, gå udenom, liste udenom, lige undgå
v. intr. - ligge langs med

idioms:

• skirt around    gå udenom

Nederlands (Dutch)
rok, zoom, buitenwijk, ontwijken

Français (French)
n. - jupe, volant (de tissu), basques, minette, (GB) hampe (de b¯uf), (Équit) petit quartier
v. tr. - contourner, esquiver
v. intr. - contourner, border (qch)

idioms:

• skirt around    contourner

Deutsch (German)
n. - Rock, Schoß, Saum, Seitenblatt
v. - herumgehen um, umgeben

idioms:

• skirt around    umgehen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - φούστα, ποδόγυρος, παρυφή, (μηχαν.) ποδιά εμβόλου, (καθομ.) θηλυκό
v. - περιζώνω, περιτρέχω, αποφεύγω (να αντιμετωπίσω)

idioms:

• skirt around    αποφεύγω, παρακάμπτω

Italiano (Italian)
scansare, gonna

idioms:

• skirt around    eludere

Português (Portuguese)
n. - saia (f), fralda (f), orla (f)
v. - contornar, margear

idioms:

• skirt around    rodear

Русский (Russian)
юбка, подол, берег, опушка, подножие (горы), полоска, молодая женщина, оборка, быть расположенным по краю, окаймлять, огибать, обходить стороной, едва избежать чего-л. уклоняться от чего-л.

idioms:

• skirt around    избегать упоминать что-л., обходить щекотливые вопросы

Español (Spanish)
n. - falda
v. tr. - rodear, dar la vuelta a, bordear, escapar por poco a
v. intr. - rodear, dar la vuelta a, bordear

idioms:

• skirt around    eludir, esquivar, rehuir

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kjol, kjoltyg, fruntimmer, skört, kant, utkant, bryn, slaksida (slakt)
v. - kanta, gå längs, ligga utmed, passera i utkanten av, kringgå, undvika

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
裙子, 边缘, 下摆, 位于...边缘, 回避, 装边于, 位于边缘

idioms:

• skirt around    沿着边走, 位于边缘地带, 绕过...的边缘

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 裙子, 邊緣, 下擺
v. tr. - 位於...邊緣, 回避, 裝邊於
v. intr. - 位於邊緣

idioms:

• skirt around    沿著邊走, 位於邊緣地帶, 繞過...的邊緣

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 치마, (물건의) 가장자리, 젊은 여자
v. tr. - 둘러싸다, ~의 가장자리를 이루다, 회피하다
v. intr. - 가에 있다, 주변을 따라 나아가다 , (사냥에서) 장애물을 비켜 지나가다

idioms:

• skirt around    (문제를) 회피하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - スカート, すそ, 周辺, 外れ, 郊外, すそ部
v. - 縁に沿って行く, 周辺にある, 回避する

idioms:

• skirt around    回避する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تنورة, فتاة, ضواحي ألمدينه (فعل) يلتف حول شيء, يجعل له حاشيه, ينجو بأعجوبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חצאית, שמלנית, שפה, שוליים, פרוור, אישה, חתיכה‬
v. tr. - ‮עבר מסביב, הקיף, התחמק, היה ממוקם לאורך‬
v. intr. - ‮עבר מסביב, הקיף, סבב‬

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skirt	Leather Skirt
Pleated Skirt	Madras Skirt