skiff
/skɪf/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
noun
An act of slightly pruning tea bushes, placing new leaves at a convenient height without removing much woody growth.
Example Sentences
- "Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern."
- "As Hiro is entering their neighborhood, he sees men running down the undulating pontoon bridge that serves as the main street, carrying guns and knives. The local constabulary. More men of the same description emerge from the byways and skiffs and sampans, joining them."
- "I went alone into a Shepherd's boat, A skiff that to a willow-tree was tied Within a rocky cave, its usual home […]"
- "Graceful old houses stand by the edge of the Great Ouse and gaze down at the houseboats, skiffs and motor-cruisers that moor there."
- "A skiff of rain blew into the shed and the two men moved their chairs back."
- "A little on again, off again, skiff of rain made the road slippery in spots."
Etymology
From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *skey-, skif, esquif, schifo, *skipą, skiff