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Skew

//skjuː// adj, adv, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective

1
Neither parallel nor perpendicular to a certain line; askew. not-comparable, usually
"a skew arch"
2
Of two lines in three-dimensional space: neither intersecting nor parallel. not-comparable, usually
"Through the given point there are two lines one of which is parallel to one of the given skew lines, while the other is parallel to the other of the given skew lines. These two "parallels" determine a plane, and the only plane, that is parallel to both the given skew lines."
3
Of a distribution: asymmetrical about its mean. comparable, not-comparable, usually
"A slope value over 1 indicates that digits are skewer than the Benford condition in favor of low ones. A slope value less than 1 indicates that digits are less skewed as compared with the Benford condition."

Adjective

1
having an oblique or slanting direction or position wordnet

Adverb

1
Askew, obliquely; awry. rare
"The walls are all united at one end into one head wall; which runs 14′ skew of the Pyramid on the W.; [...]"

Noun

1
Something that has an oblique or slanted position.
2
A stone at the foot of the slope of a gable, the offset of a buttress, etc., cut with a sloping surface and with a check to receive the coping stones and retain them in place; a skew-corbel.
"How many yards of roofing and serking, in a Roof 45 feet, 8 in. long, from skew to skew; and 21 feet, 8 in. deep, from ridge to easing, including 9 inches for wall plates or double eave?"
3
A thick drizzling rain or driving mist. Cornwall
"I am in a regular Cornish skew as to the future, like that thou and I were favoured with when we astonished the natives at Sidmouth - can't see an inch before me."
4
An oblique or sideways movement.
5
The coping of a gable. Scotland
"Gable Copings or Skews are of various forms of section, the most common varieties being the parallel sided, Fig. 654; the weathered, or feather-edged, Fig. 655; and the saddle-backed, Fig. 656. [...] The skews at the eaves terminate in what is termed a club-skew or skew-corbel. This admits of an infinite variety of forms, according to the style of the building, but the object is the same in all—namely, to afford a support and abutment to the skew."

Show 7 more definitions

6
A squint or sidelong glance.
7
One of the stones placed over the end of a gable, or forming the coping of a gable. obsolete
"[page xxviii] Here ensuithe an abstracte of the freemasons worke. [...] It'm, the walle new made on the west syde of the watergate [...] a bottres made wᵗ harde asheler of Kent, l. foot, and in Cane asheler a skew vj. foot, [...] [page xxix] It'm, at the Juell Hows door, iij. spaces covered wᵗ skew and crest, amontying xxxvj. fote of stone."
8
A kind of wooden vane or cowl in a chimney which revolves according to the direction of the wind and prevents smoking.
9
A piece of rock lying in a slanting position and tapering upwards which overhangs a working-place in a mine and is liable to fall.
10
A bias or distortion in a particular direction.
"We now come to Whiston village and bridge, (7½ miles) and after passing under a wooden bridge, dash under one of 47 feet span, of stone and brick, with a remarkable skew."
11
A phenomenon in synchronous digital circuit systems (such as computers) in which the same sourced clock signal arrives at different components at different times.
"One application for which an optical filter can play an important role is that of a wideband connection with low time skew. [...] One signal, the clock, needs to be distributed to all parts of a digital circuit to synchronize its action. The necessarily long path results in the danger of the clock signal arriving at the wrong time (clock skew), limiting the maximum frequency at which the circuit may be clocked."
12
A state of asymmetry in a distribution; skewness.
"Skewness (skew) is the degree to which a distribution's shape departs from symmetry [...]. The greater the departure, the greater the skew. Symmetric distributions have no skew. For instance, the normal distribution is symmetric and is thus not a skewed distribution."

Verb

1
To form or shape in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position. transitive
"When making this joint it is important to see that the eccentric or crank is at dead-centre; if it is at the end or limit of its stroke, the rubber is skewed the full length of same; if it is at the centre, the skewing, which is the cause of wear, is halved."
2
turn or place at an angle wordnet
3
To form or shape in an oblique way; to cause to take an oblique position.; To cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical. transitive
"We have looked at the obese and anorexic communities, whose conditions fall on a curve skewed towards overweight for determining the social norm of body weight and who face a golden-mean social ideal of body weight."
4
To bias or distort in a particular direction. transitive
"A disproportionate number of female subjects in the study group skewed the results."
5
To hurl or throw. Northumbria, Yorkshire, transitive

Show 3 more definitions

6
To move obliquely; to move sideways, to sidle; to lie obliquely. intransitive
"Child, (ſays the Mother) You muſt Uſe your ſelf to Walk Streight, without Skewing, and Shailing ſo Every Step you ſet: Pray Mother (ſays the Young Crab) do but ſet the Example your ſelf, and I'll follow ye."
7
To jump back or sideways in fear or surprise; to shy, as a horse. intransitive
"The horses capered. One tore its reins from her hands, burning a trail across her palms. She clung to the other as it pulled against the restraint. Frantically, Brienne moved to its side, pitching the reins over the beast's head, and jammed her foot into the stirrup. The horse skewed, drawing her along on one foot."
8
To look at obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly or suspiciously. intransitive
"[C]an this durt draw us / To ſuch a ſtupid tameneſſe, that our ſervice / Neglected, and look'd lamely on, and skewd at / With a few honourable words, and this, is righted?"

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Middle English skeuen, skewe, skewen (“to run at an angle or obliquely; to escape”), from Old Northern French escuer [and other forms], variants of Old French eschuer, eschever, eschiver (“to escape, flee; to avoid”) (modern French esquiver (“to dodge (a blow), duck; to elude, evade; to slip away; to sidestep”)), from Frankish *skiuhan (“to dread; to avoid, shun”), from Proto-Germanic *skiuhijaną (“to frighten”). The English word is cognate with Catalan esquiu (“evasive, shy”), Danish skæv (“crooked, slanting; skew, wry”) (> Norwegian Bokmål skjev), Dutch scheef (“crooked, slanting”), Norwegian skeiv (“crooked, lopsided; oblique, slanting; distorted”), Saterland Frisian skeeuw (“aslant, slanting; oblique; awry”), and is a doublet of eschew. The adjective and adverb are probably derived from the verb and/or from askew, and the noun is derived from either the adjective or the verb.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

Etymology 5

From Middle English skeu, skew (“stone with a sloping surface forming the slope of a gable, offset of a buttress, etc.”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman eschu, escuwe, eskeu, or Old Northern French eschieu, eskieu, eskiu, from Old French escu, escut, eschif (“a shield”) (modern French écu), from Latin scūtum (“a shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewH- (“to cover, protect”) or *skey- (“to cut, split”).

Etymology 6

Perhaps from a Cornish word, though the closest Cornish word is kuas/cwas, which would require much phonological modification; thus, perhaps instead simply from the skewed angle wind may drive such rain to fall in.

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