I. ˈskī noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, cloud, sky, from Old Norse skȳ cloud; akin to Old English scēo cloud, scua shadow, Old High German scuwo, Old Norse skuggi shadow, Gothic skuggwa mirror, Sanskrit skunāti he covers — more at hide
1.
a. : the expanse of space surrounding the earth : the upper atmosphere — usually used in plural
lifted his tiny hands to the skies — Sherwood Anderson
b. : the expanse appearing as a great vault or arch over the earth : firmament
the sky was a cold stone-grey — Pearl Buck
the daughter of earth and water, and the nursling of the sky — P.B.Shelley
behold a rainbow in the sky — William Wordsworth
a blue sky of spring — William Allingham
the infinitely perilous night sky — V.V.Nabokov
— often used in plural
promise in the skies neither of sun nor of snow — Jean Stafford
the skies they were ashen and sober — E.A.Poe
2. : heaven 2
fate snatch'd her early to the pitying sky — Alexander Pope
— often used in plural
he rais'd a mortal to the skies — John Dryden
3.
a. : meteorological conditions as manifested in the upper atmospheric regions — usually used in plural
stormy skies
the papers forecast clear skies tomorrow
b. : climate — usually used in plural
our temperate English skies — G.G.Coulton
creatures from neighboring fields and skies — R.W.Murray
4. : sky blue
5. : an unrestricted or indefinite amount or degree of something — used in the phrase the sky is the limit
•
- to the sky
II. verb
( skied or skyed ; skied or skyed ; skying ; skies )
transitive verb
1. chiefly Britain : to toss up (a coin) : flip
skied a copper for heads or tails — S.H.Adams
2.
a. : to hang (as a painting) above the line of vision
have been skied or placed in obscure corners — Carnegie Magazine
b. : to place (as a person) in an inconveniently high place
the world's press, skied up in the gallery — Mollie Panter-Downes
3. : to hit (a ball) high into the air
skied his simple pitch a full 40 yards short of the green — H.W.Wind
4. : to pass (as cotton cloth) in dyeing through air on rollers (as for oxidizing the reduced form of a vat dye)
intransitive verb
1. : to hit a ball high into the air
the batter skied to the center fielder
2. : to rise precipitously
a way to keep insurance rates from skying — Wall Street Journal