noun
ADJECTIVE
▪ big , vast , wide
▪ open
▪
We slept under the open ~.
▪ empty
▪ bright , clear , cloudless , sunny
▪
a week of cloudless skies
▪ hazy , smoggy
▪ cloudy , dull , overcast
▪ stormy
▪ star-filled , starlit , starry , star-studded
▪ moonlit
▪ dark , darkening , pale
▪ azure , blue , cerulean ( esp. AmE )
▪
I opened my shutters and saw a brilliant blue ~.
▪ grey/gray , leaden
▪ black , inky , moonless
▪
the pale moon in the inky night ~
▪ morning , night , etc.
▪ January , spring , winter , wintry , etc.
▪ northern , southern , etc.
▪ desert
▪
the vast desert skies
… OF SKY
▪ patch
▪
a patch of blue ~
VERB + SKY
▪ illuminate , light up
▪
The fireworks lit up the ~.
▪ fill
▪
Flocks of flamingoes fill the ~.
▪ scan , watch
▪
Astronomers scan the night skies for asteroids.
▪ patrol
SKY + VERB
▪ clear , clear up , lighten
▪
The rain stopped and the skies cleared.
▪ cloud over ( esp. BrE ), darken , turn grey/gray
▪
The afternoon ~ turned orange.
▪ be streaked with sth
▪
The ~ was streaked with gold.
▪ glow (with sth) , light up (with sth)
▪
The ~ glows red with fire.
▪ open (= start raining)
▪
The skies opened and rain poured down.
PREPOSITION
▪ across the ~
▪
Black clouds spread across the ~.
▪ against the ~
▪
The eagle was black against the morning ~.
▪ beneath a … ~ , under a … ~
▪
a ship tossing under a dark ~
▪ from the ~ , out of the ~
▪
A strange object dropped out of the ~.
▪ in the ~
▪
There was a kite high up in the ~.
▪ ~ above
▪
A helicopter appeared in the ~ above them.
▪ ~ over
▪
to patrol the skies over the Atlantic
PHRASES
▪ high in the ~ , low in the ~
▪
when the sun is low in the ~
▪ the ~ above , the ~ overhead
▪
Swallows darted about in the ~ overhead.
▪ the ~ is falling ( figurative , esp. AmE )
▪
alarmists who claim that the ~ is falling
▪ reach for the ~ ( often figurative )
▪
My philosophy has always been to reach for the ~.
▪ take to the skies (= to go into the sky)
▪
Some vintage aircraft will be taking to the skies at this weekend's fair.