skew /skjuː/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old North French ; Origin: escuer 'to avoid' ]
1 . if something skews the results of a test etc, it affects them, making them incorrect:
All the people we questioned lived in the same area, which had the effect of skewing the figures.
2 . to affect or influence someone’s ideas, actions, or judgment, especially in a way that makes the ideas etc not correct or fair:
These assumptions about Communism skewed American foreign policy for decades.