Chapter 56

Size, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sizing.] To cover with size; to prepare with size.

Size, n. [Abbrev. from assize. See Assize, and cf. Size glue.] 1. A settled quantity or allowance. See Assize. [Obs.] "To scant my sizes." Shak.

2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) An allowance of food and drink from the buttery, aside from the regular dinner at commons; -- corresponding to battel at Oxford.

3. Extent of superficies or volume; bulk; bigness; magnitude; as, the size of a tree or of a mast; the size of a ship or of a rock.

4. Figurative bulk; condition as to rank, ability, character, etc.; as, the office demands a man of larger size.

Men of a less size and quality.

L'Estrange.

The middling or lower size of people.

Swift.

5. A conventional relative measure of dimension, as for shoes, gloves, and other articles made up for sale.

6. An instrument consisting of a number of perforated gauges fastened together at one end by a rivet, -- used for ascertaining the size of pearls. Knight.

Size roll, a small piese of parchment added to a roll. -- Size stick, a measuring stick used by shoemakers for ascertaining the size of the foot.

Syn. -- Dimension; bigness; largeness; greatness; magnitude.

Size, v. t. 1. To fix the standard of. "To size weights and measures." [R.] Bacon.

2. To adjust or arrange according to size or bulk. Specifically: (a) (Mil.) To take the height of men, in order to place them in the ranks according to their stature. (b) (Mining) To sift, as pieces of ore or metal, in order to separate the finer from the coarser parts.

3. To swell; to increase the bulk of. Beau. & Fl.

4. (Mech.) To bring or adjust anything exactly to a required dimension, as by cutting.

To size up, to estimate or ascertain the character and ability of. See 4th Size, 4. [Slang, U.S.]

We had to size up our fellow legislators.

The Century.

Size, v. i. 1. To take greater size; to increase in size.

Our desires give them fashion, and so, As they wax lesser, fall, as they size, grow.

Donne.

2. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.

Sized (?), a. 1. Adjusted according to size.

2. Having a particular size or magnitude; -- chiefly used in compounds; as, large-sized; common- sized.

Si"zel (?), n. Same as Scissel, 2.

Siz"er (?), n. 1. See Sizar.

2. (Mech.) (a) An instrument or contrivance to size articles, or to determine their size by a standard, or to separate and distribute them according to size. (b) An instrument or tool for bringing anything to an exact size.

Siz"i*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being sizy; viscousness.

Siz"ing, n. 1. Act of covering or treating with size.

2. A weak glue used in various trades; size.

Siz"ing, n. 1. The act of sorting with respect to size.

2. The act of bringing anything to a certain size.

3. (Univ. of Cambridge, Eng.) Food and drink ordered from the buttery by a student.

Siz"y (?), a. [From 2d Size.] Sizelike; viscous; glutinous; as, sizy blood. Arbuthnot.

Siz"zle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sizzled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sizzling (?).] [See Siss.] To make a hissing sound; to fry, or to dry and shrivel up, with a hissing sound. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.] Forby.

Siz"zle, n. A hissing sound, as of something frying over a fire. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.]

Siz"zling (?), a. & n. from Sizzle.

Skad"dle (?), n. [Dim. of scath.] Hurt; damage. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Ray.

Skad"dle, a. Hurtful. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] Ray.

Skad"don (?), n. (Zoöl.) The larva of a bee. [Prov. Eng.]

Skag (?), n. (Naut.) An additional piece fastened to the keel of a boat to prevent lateral motion. See Skeg.

Skain (?), n. See Skein. [Obs.]

Skain, n. See Skean. Drayton.

Skains"mate` (?), n. [Perhaps originally, a companion in winding thread (see Skein), or a companion in arms, from skain a sword (see Skean).] A messmate; a companion. [Obs.]

Scurvy knave! I am none of his firt-gills; I am none of his skainsmates.

Shak.

Skaith (?), n. See Scatch. [Scot.]

Skald (?), n. See 5th Scald.

Skald"ic (?), a. See Scaldic. Max Müller.

Skall (?), v. t. To scale; to mount. [Obs.]

{ Skar (?), Skare (?), } a. [From the root of scare.] Wild; timid; shy. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Skart (?), n. [Cf. Scarf a cormorant.] (Zoöl.) The shag. [Prov. Eng.]

Skate (?), n. [D. schaats. Cf. Scatches.] A metallic runner with a frame shaped to fit the sole of a shoe, -- made to be fastened under the foot, and used for moving rapidly on ice.

Batavia rushes forth; and as they sweep, On sounding skates, a thousand different ways, In circling poise, swift as the winds, along, The then gay land is maddened all to joy.

Thomson.

Roller skate. See under Roller.

Skate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skated; p. pr. & vb. n. Skating.] To move on skates.

Skate, n. [Icel. skata; cf. Prov. G. schatten, meer-schatten, L. squatus, squatina, and E. shad.] (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of large, flat elasmobranch fishes of the genus Raia, having a long, slender tail, terminated by a small caudal fin. The pectoral fins, which are large and broad and united to the sides of the body and head, give a somewhat rhombic form to these fishes. The skin is more or less spinose.

Some of the species are used for food, as the European blue or gray skate (Raia batis), which sometimes weighs nearly 200 pounds. The American smooth, or barn-door, skate (R. lævis) is also a large species, often becoming three or four feet across. The common spiny skate (R. erinacea) is much smaller.

Skate's egg. See Sea purse. -- Skate sucker, any marine leech of the genus Pontobdella, parasitic on skates.

Skat"er (?), n. 1. One who skates.

2. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of hemipterous insects belonging to Gerris, Pyrrhocoris, Prostemma, and allied genera. They have long legs, and run rapidly over the surface of the water, as if skating.

Ska"tol (?), n. [Gr. &?;&?;&?;, dung + -ol.] (Physiol. Chem.) A constituent of human fæces formed in the small intestines as a product of the putrefaction of albuminous matter. It is also found in reduced indigo. Chemically it is methyl indol, C9H9N.

Skayles (?), n. [√159.] Skittles. [Obs.]

Skean (?), n. [Ir sgian; akin to Gael. sgian, W. ysgien a large knife, a scimiter.] A knife or short dagger, esp. that in use among the Highlanders of Scotland. [Variously spelt.] "His skean, or pistol." Spenser.

Ske*dad"dle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skedaddled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skedaddling (?).] [Of uncertain etymology.] To betake one's self to flight, as if in a panic; to flee; to run away. [Slang, U. S.]

Skee (?), n. [Dan. ski; Icel. sk&?; a billet of wood. See Skid.] A long strip of wood, curved upwards in front, used on the foot for sliding.

Skeed (?), n. See Skid.

Skeel (?), n. [Icel. skj&?;la a pail, bucket.] A shallow wooden vessel for holding milk or cream. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Grose.

{ Skeel"duck` (?), Skeel"goose` (?), } n. [See Sheldrake.] (Zoöl.) The common European sheldrake. [Prov. Eng.]

Skeet (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] (Naut.) A scoop with a long handle, used to wash the sides of a vessel, and formerly to wet the sails or deck.

Skeg (?), n. [Prov. E., also a stump of a branch, a wooden peg; cf. Icel. sk&?;gr a wood, Sw. skog. Cf. Shaw.] 1. A sort of wild plum. [Obs.] Holland.

2. pl. A kind of oats. Farm. Encyc.

3. (Naut.) The after part of the keel of a vessel, to which the rudder is attached.

Skeg"ger (?), n. (Zoöl.) The parr. Walton.

Skein (?), n. [OE. skeyne, OF. escaigne, F. écagne, probably of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. sgainne, Gael. sgeinnidh thread, small twine; or perhaps the English word is immediately from Celtic.] 1. A quantity of yarn, thread, or the like, put up together, after it is taken from the reel, -- usually tied in a sort of knot.

A skein of cotton yarn is formed by eighty turns of the thread round a fifty-four inch reel.

2. (Wagon Making) A metallic strengthening band or thimble on the wooden arm of an axle. Knight.

Skein, n. (Zoöl.) A flight of wild fowl (wild geese or the like). [Prov. Eng.]

Skeine (?), n. See Skean.

Skel"der (?), v. t. & i. [Etymol. uncertain.] To deceive; to cheat; to trick. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Skel"der, n. A vagrant; a cheat. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

{ Skel"drake` (?), or Skiel"drake` (?) }, n. (Zoöl.) (a) The common European sheldrake. (b) The oyster catcher.

Skel"et (?), n. A skeleton. See Scelet.

Skel"e*tal (?), a. Pertaining to the skeleton.

Skel`e*tog"e*nous (?), a. [Skeleton + -genous.] Forming or producing parts of the skeleton.

Skel`e*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Skeleton + -logy.] That part of anatomy which treats of the skeleton; also, a treatise on the skeleton.

Skel"e*ton (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;&?;&?;&?; (sc. &?;&?;&?;) a dried body, a mummy, fr. &?;&?;&?;&?; dried up, parched, &?;&?;&?;&?; to dry, dry up, parch.] 1. (Anat.) (a) The bony and cartilaginous framework which supports the soft parts of a vertebrate animal. [See Illust. of the Human Skeleton, in Appendix.] (b) The more or less firm or hardened framework of an invertebrate animal.

In a wider sense, the skeleton includes the whole connective-tissue framework with the integument and its appendages. See Endoskeleton, and Exoskeleton.

2. Hence, figuratively: (a) A very thin or lean person. (b) The framework of anything; the principal parts that support the rest, but without the appendages.

The great skeleton of the world.

Sir M. Hale.

(c) The heads and outline of a literary production, especially of a sermon.

Skel"e*ton, a. Consisting of, or resembling, a skeleton; consisting merely of the framework or outlines; having only certain leading features of anything; as, a skeleton sermon; a skeleton crystal.

Skeleton bill, a bill or draft made out in blank as to the amount or payee, but signed by the acceptor. [Eng.] -- Skeleton key, a key with nearly the whole substance of the web filed away, to adapt it to avoid the wards of a lock; a master key; -- used for opening locks to which it has not been especially fitted. -- Skeleton leaf, a leaf from which the pulpy part has been removed by chemical means, the fibrous part alone remaining. -- Skeleton proof, a proof of a print or engraving, with the inscription outlined in hair strokes only, such proofs being taken before the engraving is finished. -- Skeleton regiment, a regiment which has its complement of officers, but in which there are few enlisted men. -- Skeleton shrimp (Zoöl.), a small crustacean of the genus Caprella. See Illust. under Læmodipoda.

Skel"e*ton*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skeletonized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skeletonizing (?).] To prepare a skeleton of; also, to reduce, as a leaf, to its skeleton. Pop. Sci. Monthly.

Skel"e*ton*i`zer (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any small moth whose larva eats the parenchyma of leaves, leaving the skeleton; as, the apple-leaf skeletonizer.

Skel"lum (?), n. [Dan. schelm, fr. G. schelm.] A scoundrel. [Obs. or Scot.] Pepys. Burns.

Skel"ly (?), v. i. [Cf. Dan. skele, Sw. skela.] To squint. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Skel"ly, n. A squint. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Skelp (?), n. [Cf. Prov. E. skelp to kick severely, to move rapidly; Gael. sgealp, n., a slap with the palm of the hand, v., to strike with the palm of the hand.] 1. A blow; a smart stroke. [Prov. Eng.] Brockett.

2. A squall; also, a heavy fall of rain. [Scot.]

Skelp, v. t. To strike; to slap. [Scot.] C. Reade.

Skelp, n. A wrought-iron plate from which a gun barrel or pipe is made by bending and welding the edges together, and drawing the thick tube thus formed.

Skel"ter (?), v. i. [Cf. Helter- skelter.] To run off helter-skelter; to hurry; to scurry; -- with away or off. [Colloq.] A. R. Wallace.

Sken (?), v. i. To squint. [Prov. Eng.]

Skene (?), n. See Skean. C. Kingsley.

Skep (?), n. [Icel. skeppa a measure, bushel; cf. Gael. sgeap a basket, a beehive.] 1. A coarse round farm basket. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Tusser.

2. A beehive. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Skep"tic (?), n. [Gr. skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, fr. ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to view, consider: cf. L. scepticus, F. sceptique. See Scope.] [Written also sceptic.] 1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer after facts or reasons.

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2. (Metaph.) A doubter as to whether any fact or truth can be certainly known; a universal doubter; a Pyrrhonist; hence, in modern usage, occasionally, a person who questions whether any truth or fact can be established on philosophical grounds; sometimes, a critical inquirer, in opposition to a dogmatist.

All this criticism [of Hume] proceeds upon the erroneous hypothesis that he was a dogmatist. He was a skeptic; that is, he accepted the principles asserted by the prevailing dogmatism: and only showed that such and such conclusions were, on these principles, inevitable.

Sir W. Hamilton.

3. (Theol.) A person who doubts the existence and perfections of God, or the truth of revelation; one who disbelieves the divine origin of the Christian religion.

Suffer not your faith to be shaken by the sophistries of skeptics.

S. Clarke.

This word and its derivatives are often written with c instead of k in the first syllable, -- sceptic, sceptical, scepticism, etc. Dr. Johnson, struck with the extraordinary irregularity of giving c its hard sound before e, altered the spelling, and his example has been followed by most of the lexicographers who have succeeded him; yet the prevalent practice among English writers and printers is in favor of the other mode. In the United States this practice is reversed, a large and increasing majority of educated persons preferring the orthography which is most in accordance with etymology and analogy.

Syn. -- Infidel; unbeliever; doubter. -- See Infidel.

{ Skep"tic (?), Skep"tic*al (?), } a. [Written also sceptic, sceptical.] 1. Of or pertaining to a sceptic or skepticism; characterized by skepticism; hesitating to admit the certainly of doctrines or principles; doubting of everything.

2. (Theol.) Doubting or denying the truth of revelation, or the sacred Scriptures.

The skeptical system subverts the whole foundation of morals.

R. Hall.

-- Skep"tac*al*ly, adv. -- Skep"tic*al*ness, n.

Skep"ti*cism (?), n. [Cf. F. scepticisme.] [Written also scepticism.] 1. An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.

That momentary amazement, and irresolution, and confusion, which is the result of skepticism.

Hune.

2. (Metaph.) The doctrine that no fact or principle can be certainly known; the tenet that all knowledge is uncertain; Pyrrohonism; universal doubt; the position that no fact or truth, however worthy of confidence, can be established on philosophical grounds; critical investigation or inquiry, as opposed to the positive assumption or assertion of certain principles.

3. (Theol.) A doubting of the truth of revelation, or a denial of the divine origin of the Christian religion, or of the being, perfections, or truth of God.

Let no . . . secret skepticism lead any one to doubt whether this blessed prospect will be realized.

S. Miller.

Skep"ti*cize (?), v. i. To doubt; to pretend to doubt of everything. [R.]

To skepticize, where no one else will . . . hesitate.

Shaftesbury.

Sker"ry (?), n.; pl. Skerries (#). [Of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. sker, Sw. skär, Dan. ski&?;r. Cf. Scar a bank.] A rocky isle; an insulated rock. [Scot.]

Sketch (?), n. [D. schets, fr. It. schizzo a sketch, a splash (whence also F. esquisse; cf. Esquisse.); cf. It. schizzare to splash, to sketch.] An outline or general delineation of anything; a first rough or incomplete draught or plan of any design; especially, in the fine arts, such a representation of an object or scene as serves the artist's purpose by recording its chief features; also, a preliminary study for an original work.

Syn. -- Outline; delineation; draught; plan; design. -- Sketch, Outline, Delineation. An outline gives only the bounding lines of some scene or picture. A sketch fills up the outline in part, giving broad touches, by which an imperfect idea may be conveyed. A delineation goes further, carrying out the more striking features of the picture, and going so much into detail as to furnish a clear conception of the whole. Figuratively, we may speak of the outlines of a plan, of a work, of a project, etc., which serve as a basis on which the subordinate parts are formed, or of sketches of countries, characters, manners, etc., which give us a general idea of the things described. Crabb.

Sketch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sketched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sketching.] [Cf D. schetsen, It. schizzare. See Sketch, n.] 1. To draw the outline or chief features of; to make a rought of.

2. To plan or describe by giving the principal points or ideas of.

Syn. -- To delineate; design; draught; depict.

Sketch, v. i. To make sketches, as of landscapes.

Sketch"book`, n. A book of sketches or for sketches.

Sketch"er (?), n. One who sketches.

Sketch"i*ly (?), adv. In a sketchy or incomplete manner. "Sketchily descriptive." Bartlett.

Sketch"i*ness, n. The quality or state of being sketchy; lack of finish; incompleteness.

Sketch"y (?), a. Containing only an outline or rough form; being in the manner of a sketch; incomplete.

The execution is sketchy throughout; the head, in particular, is left in the rough.

J. S. Harford.

Skew (?), adv. [Cf. D. scheef. Dan. ski&?;v, Sw. skef, Icel. skeifr, G. schief, also E. shy, a. & v. i.] Awry; obliquely; askew.

Skew, a. Turned or twisted to one side; situated obliquely; skewed; -- chiefly used in technical phrases.

Skew arch, an oblique arch. See under Oblique. -- Skew back. (Civil Engin.) (a) The course of masonry, the stone, or the iron plate, having an inclined face, which forms the abutment for the voussoirs of a segmental arch. (b) A plate, cap, or shoe, having an inclined face to receive the nut of a diagonal brace, rod, or the end of an inclined strut, in a truss or frame. -- Skew bridge. See under Bridge, n. -- Skew curve (Geom.), a curve of double curvature, or a twisted curve. See Plane curve, under Curve. -- Skew gearing, or Skew bevel gearing (Mach.), toothed gearing, generally resembling bevel gearing, for connecting two shafts that are neither parallel nor intersecting, and in which the teeth slant across the faces of the gears. -- Skew surface (Geom.), a ruled surface such that in general two successive generating straight lines do not intersect; a warped surface; as, the helicoid is a skew surface. -- Skew symmetrical determinant (Alg.), a determinant in which the elements in each column of the matrix are equal to the elements of the corresponding row of the matrix with the signs changed, as in (1), below.

(1) 0 2 -3-2 0 53 -5 0 (2) 4 -1 71 8 - 2-7 2 1

This requires that the numbers in the diagonal from the upper left to lower right corner be zeros. A like determinant in which the numbers in the diagonal are not zeros is a skew determinant, as in (2), above.

Skew (?), n. (Arch.) A stone at the foot of the slope of a gable, the offset of a buttress, or the like, cut with a sloping surface and with a check to receive the coping stones and retain them in place.

Skew, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skewed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skewing.] 1. To walk obliquely; to go sidling; to lie or move obliquely.

Child, you must walk straight, without skewing.

L'Estrange.

2. To start aside; to shy, as a horse. [Prov. Eng.]

3. To look obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly or suspiciously. Beau. & Fl.

Skew, v. t. [See Skew, adv.] 1. To shape or form in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.

2. To throw or hurl obliquely.

Skew"bald` (?), a. Marked with spots and patches of white and some color other than black; -- usually distinguished from piebald, in which the colors are properly white and black. Said of horses.

Skew"er (?), n. [Probably of Scand, origin; cf. Sw. & Dan. skifer a slate. Cf. Shuver a fragment.] A pin of wood or metal for fastening meat to a spit, or for keeping it in form while roasting.

Meat well stuck with skewers to make it look round.

Swift.

Skew"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skewered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skewering.] To fasten with skewers.

Skid (skd), n. [Icel. skð a billet of wood. See Shide.] [Written also skeed.] 1. A shoe or clog, as of iron, attached to a chain, and placed under the wheel of a wagon to prevent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan; also, by extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the same purpose.

2. A piece of timber used as a support, or to receive pressure. Specifically: (a) pl. (Naut.) Large fenders hung over a vessel's side to protect it in handling a cargo. Totten. (b) One of a pair of timbers or bars, usually arranged so as to form an inclined plane, as form a wagon to a door, along which anything is moved by sliding or rolling. (c) One of a pair of horizontal rails or timbers for supporting anything, as a boat, a barrel, etc.

Skid, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skidded (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skidding.] 1. To protect or support with a skid or skids; also, to cause to move on skids.

2. To check with a skid, as wagon wheels. Dickens.

Skid"daw` (?), n. (Zoöl.) The black guillemot. [Prov. Eng.]

Skid"pan` (?), n. See Skid, n., 1. [Eng.]

Skied (?), imp. & p. p. of Sky, v. t.

Ski"ey (?), a. See Skyey. Shelley.

Skiff (?), n. [F. esquif, fr. OHG. skif, G. schiff. See Ship.] A small, light boat.

The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff.

Milton.

Skiff caterpillar (Zoöl.), the larva of a moth (Limacodes scapha); -- so called from its peculiar shape.

Skiff, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skiffed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Skiffing.] To navigate in a skiff. [R.]

Skif"fling (?), n. (Quarrying) Rough dressing by knocking off knobs or projections; knobbing.

Skil"der (?), v. i. To beg; to pilfer; to skelder. [Prov. Eng.& Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

Skil"ful (?), a. See Skilful.

Skill (?), n. [Icel. skil a distinction, discernment; akin to skilja to separate, divide, distinguish, Sw. skilja,. skille to separate, skiel reason, right, justice, Sw. skäl reason, Lith. skelli to cleave. Cf. Shell, Shoal, a multitude.] 1. Discrimination; judgment; propriety; reason; cause. [Obs.] Shak. "As it was skill and right." Chaucer.

For great skill is, he prove that he wrought.

[For with good reason he should test what he created.] Chaucer.

2. Knowledge; understanding. [Obsoles.]

That by his fellowship he color might Both his estate and love from skill of any wight.

Spenser.

Nor want we skill or art.

Milton.

3. The familiar knowledge of any art or science, united with readiness and dexterity in execution or performance, or in the application of the art or science to practical purposes; power to discern and execute; ability to perceive and perform; expertness; aptitude; as, the skill of a mathematician, physician, surgeon, mechanic, etc.

Phocion, . . . by his great wisdom and skill at negotiations, diverted Alexander from the conquest of Athens.

Swift.

Where patience her sweet skill imparts.

Keble.

4. Display of art; exercise of ability; contrivance; address. [Obs.]

Richard . . . by a thousand princely skills, gathering so much corn as if he meant not to return.

Fuller.

5. Any particular art. [Obs.]

Learned in one skill, and in another kind of learning unskillful.

Hooker.