different between skirt vs shore

English

Etymology

From Middle English skyrte, from Old Norse skyrta, from Proto-Germanic *skurtij?. Doublet of shirt. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Skoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skørt (“skirt”), Swedish skört (“hem of a jacket”), Norwegian skjørt (“skirt”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: skû(r)t, IPA^(key): /sk??t/
• (US) enPR: skûrt, IPA^(key): /sk?t/
• Rhymes: -??(r)t

Noun

skirt (plural skirts)

1. An article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body.
   • c. 1907, O. Henry, The Purple Dress:

     "I like purple best," said Maida. "And old Schlegel has promised to make it for $8. It's going to be lovely. I'm going to have a plaited skirt and a blouse coat trimmed with a band of galloon under a white cloth collar with two rows of—"

2. The part of a dress or robe, etc., that hangs below the waist.
   • 1885, Ada S. Ballin, The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice, Chapter XI:

     The petticoats and skirts ordinarily worn are decidedly the heaviest part of the dress ; hence it is necessary that some reform should be effected in these.

   • 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red-Headed League

     “It's all clear,” he whispered. “Have you the chisel and the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!”
     Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts.
3. A loose edging to any part of a dress.
   • July 27, 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian no. 118

     A narrow lace, or a small skirt of fine ruffled linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty piece.

4. A petticoat.
5. (derogatory, slang) A woman.
   • 1931, Robert E. Howard, Alleys of Peril:

     "Mate," said the Cockney, after we'd finished about half the bottle, "it comes to me that we're a couple o' blightin' idjits to be workin' for a skirt."

     "What d'ya mean?" I asked, taking a pull at the bottle.

     "Well, 'ere's us, two red-blooded 'e-men, takin' orders from a lousy little frail, 'andin' the swag h'over to 'er, and takin' wot she warnts to 'and us, w'en we could 'ave the 'ole lot. Take this job 'ere now--"

6. (Britain, colloquial) Women collectively, in a sexual context.
7. (Britain, colloquial) Sexual intercourse with a woman.
8. Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
   • ca. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act III, sc. 2:

     here in the skirts of the forest, like fringe upon a petticoat.
9. The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dunglison to this entry?)

Usage notes

• (article of clothing): It was formerly common to speak of “skirts” (plural) rather than “a skirt”. In some cases this served to emphasize an array of skirts of underskirts, or of pleats and folds in a single skirt; in other cases it made little or no difference in meaning.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ???? (suk?to)
• ? Korean: ??? (seukeoteu)
• ? Scottish Gaelic: sgiort

Translations

Verb

skirt (third-person singular simple present skirts, present participle skirting, simple past and past participle skirted)

1. To be on or form the border of.

2. To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1

     An enormous man and woman (it was early-closing day) were stretched motionless, with their heads on pocket-handkerchiefs, side by side, within a few feet of the sea, while two or three gulls gracefully skirted the incoming waves, and settled near their boots.
3. To cover with a skirt; to surround.
4. To avoid or ignore (something); to manage to avoid (something or a problem); to skate by (something).

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Kirst, stirk

Middle English

Noun

skirt

1. Alternative form of skyrte

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shô, IPA^(key): /???/
• (General American) enPR: shôr, IPA^(key): /???/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: sh?r?, IPA^(key): /?o(?)?/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /?o?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: sure (accents with the pour–poor merger); Shaw (non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English schore, from Old English *s?ora (attested as s?or- in placenames), from Proto-Germanic *skurô (“rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore”). Possibly related to Old English s?ieran (“to cut”), which survives today as English shear.

Cognate with Middle Dutch scorre (“land washed by the sea”), Middle Low German schor (“shore, coast, headland”), Middle High German schorre ("rocky crag, high rocky shore"; > German Schorre, Schorren (“towering rock, crag”)), and Limburgish sjaor (“riverbank”). Maybe connected with Norwegian Bokmål skjær.

Noun

shore (plural shores)

1. Land adjoining a non-flowing body of water, such as an ocean, lake or pond.

   • the fruitful shore of muddy Nile
2. (from the perspective of one on a body of water) Land, usually near a port.

Usage notes

• Generally, only the largest of rivers, which are often estuaries, are said to have shores.
• Rivers and other flowing bodies of water are said to have banks.
• River bank(s) outnumbers River shore(s) about 200:3 at COCA.

Hyponyms

• (land adjoining a large body of water): beach, headland, coast

Derived terms

Related terms

• longshoreman
• shorage

Translations

Verb

shore (third-person singular simple present shores, present participle shoring, simple past and past participle shored)

1. (obsolete) To set on shore.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Dutch schooren (“to prop up, support”) and Middle Low German schore (“to shovel, sweep”). It is of uncertain origin, but has been found in some other Germanic languages. Compare Old Norse skorða (“piece of timber set up as a support”).

Noun

shore (plural shores)

1. A prop or strut supporting the weight or flooring above it.

   The shores stayed upright during the earthquake.

Verb

shore (third-person singular simple present shores, present participle shoring, simple past and past participle shored)

1. (transitive, without up) To provide with support.
2. (usually with up) To reinforce (something at risk of failure).

   My family shored me up after I failed the GED.

   The workers were shoring up the dock after part of it fell into the water.

Synonyms

• (without up): reinforce, strengthen, support, buttress
• (with up): prop up, bolster

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

See shear.

Verb

shore

1. simple past tense of shear

Etymology 4

Noun

shore (plural shores)

1. (Obsolete except in Hiberno-English) A sewer.

Etymology 5

Perhaps a form of score, or another form of sure, equivalent to assure.

Verb

shore (third-person singular simple present shores, present participle shoring, simple past and past participle shored)

1. (Scotland, archaic) To warn or threaten.
2. (Scotland, archaic) To offer.

References

Anagrams

• H-O-R-S-E, H.O.R.S.E., HORSE, Horse, RSeOH, Rohes, hoers, horse, hoser, shero, shoer