sky S2 W2 /skaɪ/ BrE AmE noun ( plural skies )
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: 'cloud' ]
1 . [singular, uncountable] the space above the earth where clouds and the sun and stars appear:
The sky grew dark, and a cold rain began to fall.
A shooting star sped across the night sky.
in the sky
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
2 . skies [plural] a word meaning ‘sky’, used especially when describing the weather or what the sky looks like in a place:
a land of blue skies and warm sunshine
The skies were overcast, and it was chilly and damp.
3 . the sky’s the limit spoken used to say that there is no limit to what someone can achieve, spend, win etc:
Francis believes the sky’s the limit for the young goalkeeper.
⇨ pie in the sky at ↑ pie (4), ⇨ praise somebody/something to the skies at ↑ praise 1 (1)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 1 & 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + sky
▪ blue
The sky was blue and the sun was shining.
▪ grey British English , gray AmE:
Rain was starting to fall from the grey sky.
▪ dark/black
Fireworks burst up into the dark sky.
▪ cloudy/dull/overcast (=with clouds)
Cloudy skies were forecast.
▪ bright/clear/cloudless (=without clouds)
The sun rose higher in the cloudless sky.
▪ azure literary (=bright blue)
The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.
▪ leaden/lowering literary (=with a lot of grey cloud)
The leaden skies cleared and the sun came out.
▪ a starry sky (=with a lot of stars)
We had dinner on the terrace under a beautiful starry sky.
▪ the darkening sky (=becoming darker)
Benjamin stared up at the darkening sky.
▪ the lightening sky (=becoming lighter)
A plane flew across the lightening sky.
▪ the night/evening/morning sky
The moon is the brightest object visible in the night sky.
▪ the summer/winter sky
Her eyes were as blue as the summer sky.
▪ the open sky (=a large area of sky)
They lay on the ground under the open sky.
▪ a big sky (=a sky that looks large)
Montana is still a land of big skies.
■ verbs
▪ the sky darkens
The sky darkened and thunder rolled in from the west.
▪ the sky clouds over (=clouds appear)
The sky was beginning to cloud over.
▪ the sky clears (=the clouds disappear)
By dawn the sky had cleared.