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Webster 1913 Edition
Skulk
Skulk
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Skulked
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Skulking
.] [Of Scand. origin; cf. Dan.
skulke
to spare or save one’s self, to play the truant, Sw. skolka
to be at leisure, to shirk, Icel. skolla
. Cf. Scowl
.] To hide, or get out of the way, in a sneaking manner; to lie close, or to move in a furtive way; to lurk.
“Want skulks in holes and crevices.” W. C. Bryant.
Discovered and defeated of your prey,
You
You
skulked
behind the fence, and sneaked away. Dryden.
Skulk
,Noun.
[Cf. Icel.
skollr
, skolli
, a fox, and E. skulk
, v.i.] A number of foxes together.
Wright.
Webster 1828 Edition
Skulk
SKULK
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
skulk
skulk
English
Noun
skulk (plural skulks)
- A group of foxes.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Wright to this entry?)
- One who skulks; a skulker.
Verb
skulk (third-person singular simple present skulks, present participle skulking, simple past and past participle skulked)
- to conceal oneself; to hide
- Dryden
- Discovered and defeated of your prey, / You skulked behind the fence, and sneaked away.
- 1852, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, chapter 26
- Behind dingy blind and curtain, in upper story and garret, skulking more or less under false names, false hair, false titles, false jewellery, and false histories, a colony of brigands lie in their first sleep.
- Dryden
- to sneak around, sneak about
- 1904, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Lynching Of Jube Benson
- Fully a dozen of the citizens had seen him hastening toward the woods and noted his skulking air [...]
- 1904, Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Lynching Of Jube Benson
- to shirk; to avoid obligation
Translations
to conceal oneself; to hide
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