Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Sky

Sky

(skī)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Skies
(skīz)
.
[OE.
skie
a cloud, Icel.
skȳ
; akin to Sw. & Dan.
sky
; cf. AS.
scūa
,
scūwa
, shadow, Icel.
skuggi
; probably from the same root as E.
scum
. √158. See
Scum
, and cf.
Hide
skin,
Obscure
.]
1.
A cloud.
[Obs.]
[A wind] that blew so hideously and high,
That it ne lefte not a
sky

In all the welkin long and broad.
Chaucer.
2.
Hence, a shadow.
[Obs.]
She passeth as it were a
sky
.
Gower.
3.
The apparent arch, or vault, of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color; the heavens; the firmament; – sometimes in the plural.
The Norweyan banners flout the
sky
.
Shakespeare
4.
The wheather; the climate.
Thou wert better in thy grave than to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the
skies
.
Shakespeare
☞ Sky is often used adjectively or in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, sky color, skylight, sky-aspiring, sky-born, sky-pointing, sky-roofed, etc.
Sky blue
,
an azure color.
–
Sky scraper
(Naut.)
,
a skysail of a triangular form.
Totten.
–
Under open sky
,
out of doors.
“Under open sky adored.”
Milton.

Sky

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Skied
or
Skyed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Skying
.]
1.
To hang (a picture on exhibition) near the top of a wall, where it can not be well seen.
[Colloq.]
Brother Academicians who
skied
his pictures.
The Century.
2.
To throw towards the sky;
as, to
sky
a ball at cricket
.
[Colloq.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Sky

SKY

,
Noun.
1.
The aerial region which surrounds the earth; the apparent arch or vault of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color.
2.
The heavens.
3.
The weather; the climate.
4.
A cloud; a shadow.

Definition 2024

Sky

Sky

See also: sky, SKY, ský, -sky, and -ský

English

Proper noun

Sky

  1. A female given name
  2. A male given name

sky

sky

See also: Skye, Sky, SKY, ský, -sky, and -ský

English

A blue sky

Alternative forms

Noun

sky ‎(plural skies)

  1. (obsolete) A cloud.
  2. The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the ground during the day.
    That year, a meteor fell from the sky.‎
  3. The part of the sky which can be seen from a specific place or at a specific time; its condition, climate etc.
    I lay back under a warm Texas sky.‎
    We're not sure how long the cloudy skies will last.‎
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 29686887 , chapter IV:
      So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, Nobody, chapter II:
      She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, drowsily realising that since she had fallen asleep it had come on to rain smartly out of a shrouded sky.
  4. Heaven.
    This mortal has incurred the wrath of the skies.‎

Usage notes

Usually the word can be used correctly in either the singular or plural form, but the plural is now mainly poetic.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

sky ‎(third-person singular simple present skies, present participle skying, simple past and past participle skied or skyed)

  1. (sports) To hit, kick or throw (a ball) extremely high.
    • 2011 January 22, Ian Hughes, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC:
      Van Persie skied a penalty, conceded by Gary Caldwell who was sent off, and also hit the post before scoring his third with a shot at the near post.
  2. (colloquial, dated) To hang (a picture on exhibition) near the top of a wall, where it cannot be well seen.
    • The Century
      Brother Academicians who skied his pictures.
  3. (colloquial) To drink something from a container without one's lips touching the container.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: reply · I'd · copies · #971: sky · touch · equal · fortune

Danish

Etymology 1

Possibly from Middle Low German schūwe, schū.

Adjective

sky ‎(neuter sky, e-form sky)

  1. shy
Synonyms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse ský.

Noun

sky c (singular definite skyen, plural indefinite skyer)

  1. cloud
Inflection

Etymology 3

From French jus, from Latin ius ‎(“gravy, broth, sauce”).

Noun

sky c (singular definite skyen, not used in plural form)

  1. gravy, stock (a kind of soup)
  2. jelly (made of gravy)

Etymology 4

Possibly from Middle Low German schūwen.

Verb

sky ‎(imperative sky, present skyr or skyer, past skyede, past participle skyet)

  1. To shun

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German schuwe

Adjective

sky ‎(neuter singular sky, definite singular and plural sky or skye, comparative skyere, indefinite superlative skyest, definite superlative skyeste)

  1. shy
Synonyms

Etymology 2

From Old Norse ský

Noun

sky f, m ‎(definite singular skya or skyen, indefinite plural skyer, definite plural skyene)

  1. a cloud
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Possibly from Middle Low German schuwen

Verb

sky ‎(imperative sky, present tense skyr, simple past skydde, past participle skydd, present participle skyende)

  1. to avoid, shun
Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German schuwe

Adjective

sky ‎(neuter singular sky, definite singular and plural sky or skye, comparative skyare, indefinite superlative skyast, definite superlative skyaste)

  1. shy

Etymology 2

From Old Norse ský

Noun

sky f ‎(definite singular skya, indefinite plural skyer, definite plural skyene)

  1. a cloud
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Possibly from Middle Low German schuwen

Verb

sky

  1. to avoid, shun
Conjugation
    Conjugation of sky in Nynorsk
Infinitive active sky
Infinitive passive skyast
Present skyr
Past skydde
Present participle skyande
Past participle skydd/skytt
Imperative sky
Derived terms

References

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse ský, from Proto-Germanic *skiwją.

Noun

skȳ n

  1. cloud
  2. sky

Declension

Descendants

Scots

Etymology

From Old Norse ský.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [skaɪ]

Noun

sky ‎(plural skies)

  1. sky
    It's a fair braw sky we'v got the nicht. It's quite a beautiful sky we've got tonight.
  2. daylight (especially at dawn)
    A wis up afore the sky. I was up before sunrise.
  3. skyline, outline against the sky (especially of a hill)
    He saw the sky o a hill awa tae the west. He saw the outline of a hill in the west.

Derived terms

Verb

sky ‎(third-person singular present skies, present participle skies, past skyin, past participle skiet)

  1. (of weather) to clear up
  2. to shade the eyes with the hand (so as to see better)
  3. to hold up to the light and examine

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɧyː/

Etymology 1

From Old Swedish skȳ, from Old Norse ský, from Proto-Germanic *skiwją, compare English sky.

Noun

sky

  1. (countable) heaven
  2. (countable) sky
  3. (countable) cloud

Etymology 2

Corrupted from the French jus.

Noun

sky

  1. (uncountable, cooking) The liquid that remains in a frying pan after the fried meat is ready.

Etymology 3

From Middle Low German schǖwen.

Verb

sky

  1. avoid due to fear or disgust, shun

Etymology

From Middle English sky, from Old Norse ský ‎(“cloud”), from Proto-Germanic *skiwją, *skiwô ‎(“cloud, cloud cover, haze”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew- ‎(“to cover, hide, cloud”). Cognate with Old English scēo ‎(“cloud”), Old Saxon scio, skio, skeo ‎(“light cloud cover”), Old Irish cēo ‎(“sky”), Irish ceo ‎(“mist, fog”). Also related to Old English scūa ‎(“shadow, darkness”), Latin obscūrus ‎(“dark, shadowy”), Sanskrit स्कुनाति ‎(skunāti, “he covers”). See also English hide, hut, house, hose, shoe.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skaɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ

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