Skep
/ˈskɛp/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A basket.
"Old women crouched over bags of Siamese rice, skeps of red and green peppers, purple egg-plants, bristly rambutans, pineapples, durians."
- 2 a domed beehive made of twisted straw wordnet
- 3 A beehive made of straw or wicker.
"Three of the hives had been overturned and the others had been rocked to and fro. The modern hive is a fearful thing to upset; the combs are not static as in a skep, but hang loosely: when the hive is overturned they smash and pile up like a telescoped train."
- 4 a large round wicker basket (used on farms) wordnet
Verb
- 1 To transfer (bees) into a skep. transitive
Example
More examples"Old women crouched over bags of Siamese rice, skeps of red and green peppers, purple egg-plants, bristly rambutans, pineapples, durians."
Etymology
Late Old English sceppe, from Old Norse skeppa (“basket”). Cognate with Danish skæppe (“an old Danish unit of measure equalling 17.4 l”).