skirt

«skirt» in Mova's school dictionary: a piece of clothing worn by women and girls that hangs… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a skirt, skirts); verb (skirt, skirts, skirted, skirting)

meaning for a pupil

1) A skirt is a piece of clothing worn by women and girls that hangs from the waist and has no separate legs. tree →

2) The skirt of a dress or coat is the part below the waist. tree →

3) To skirt something means to go round the edge of it. tree →

4) To skirt (round) a problem or question means to avoid talking about it. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life it is about school uniform (skirt or trousers), shopping and clothes. In stories the verb shows a path going round something, or someone dodging a hard topic. Phrases: «a pleated skirt», «a school skirt», «skirt round the edge», «skirt the issue», «skirting board» (a strip at the bottom of a wall).

examples

• She wore a grey pleated skirt to school. tree →
• Girls may choose a skirt or trousers. tree →
• The path skirted the lake. tree →
• We skirted round the muddy field. tree →
• The politician skirted the question about money. tree →
• Her skirt swirled as she danced. tree →
• The kilt is a kind of skirt worn by Scottish men. tree →
• Mum painted the skirting board white. tree →
• Wandering along the banks of the Tigris, they skirted a garden enclosed by a high wall. tree →

note

Countable noun: a skirt, skirts. Verb: skirted, skirting; often «skirt (round/around) something». A Scottish kilt looks like a skirt but is traditional men's dress. In some schools anyone may wear a skirt; trousers are always allowed for girls.

In the corpora

• a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the skirts of the robe round about.
• And they made upon the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
• A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not uncover his father's skirt.
• Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he hath uncovered his father's skirt.
• And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «skirt» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.