SKEW


Meaning of SKEW in English

I. ˈskyü noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English, coping stone on a masonry gable, from Anglo-French escu, from Old French, shield — more at ecu

chiefly Scotland : a coping or coping stone on a masonry gable

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English skewen to skew, escape, from Old North French escuer to shun, avoid, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German sciuhen to frighten off, make timid — more at shy

intransitive verb

1. : to take an oblique direction or course : move or turn aside : twist , swerve

skews around in his chair

2. : to look sideways or askance

transitive verb

1. : to make, set, or cut on the skew : turn or place at an angle

2. : to give a bias or disproportionate weight to : distort

the list is badly skewed in favor of the subjects with which I myself feel most at home — Bonaro W. Overstreet

3. : to cause (a frequency distribution or its graphic curve) to lack symmetry

III. adjective

1. : deviating from a straight line : set, placed, or running obliquely : distorted , slanting

2. : more developed on one side or in one direction than another ; specifically : lacking statistical symmetry

for a symmetrical distribution the median is identical with the arithmetic mean, but for a skew distribution it is not — Statistical Methods in Research & Production

IV. noun

( -s )

1. : a deviation from a straight line : an oblique course or direction : slant

wearing her hat on the skew

2. : deviation from rectangularity

detects the skew in cloth and controls the operation which straightens it — Newsweek

V. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: origin unknown

: to remove loose particles of gold or silver leaf from with a soft brush

VI. noun

Etymology: origin unknown

dialect England : a sudden gusty drizzle of rain

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.