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Webster 1913 Edition

Skelly

Skel′ly

,
Verb.
I.
[Cf. Dan.
skele
, Sw.
skela
.]
To squint.
[Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Sir W. Scott.

Skel′ly

,
Noun.
A squint.
[Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Definition 2025

skelly

skelly

English

Noun

skelly ‎(plural skellies)

  1. (Britain, Scotland, dialect) A squint.

Verb

skelly ‎(third-person singular simple present skellies, present participle skellying, simple past and past participle skellied)

  1. (Britain, Scotland, dialect) To squint.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

Etymology 2

Variant of skully.

Noun

skelly ‎(uncountable)

  1. skully (the game)


Etymology

Probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *skjelga ("to squint"; found only in the reflexive skjelgask ‎(“to come askew; squint the eyes”)), from Proto-Germanic *skilgijaną ‎(“to squint”), from Proto-Germanic *skelhaz, *skelhwaz, *skelgaz ‎(“slanted; sloping; squinting”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- ‎(“to bend; crook”). Compare Danish skele ‎(“to squint”), Swedish skela ‎(“to squint”), Scots skellie, scalie, skellice ‎(“to squint; look to the side”), German schielen ‎(“to squint”).

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