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skirr - What does it mean?

Definition of 'skirr'

English

Verb

(en-verb)
  • To leave hastily; to flee, especially with a whirring sound
  • :* {{quote-book
  • |year=1851 |year_published=2006 |edition=HTML |editor= |author=Frank Forester |title= |chapter= |url= |genre= |publisher=The Gutenberg Project |isbn= |page= |passage= … while at the same moment, whir-r-r! up sprung a bevy of twenty quail, at least, startling me for the moment by the thick whirring of their wings, and skirring over the underwood right toward Archer. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
  • |year=1919 |year_published=2006 |edition=HTML |editor= |author=EJ Thompson |title=Beyond Baghdad |chapter= citation |genre= |publisher=The Gutenberg Project |isbn= |page= |passage=Our left wing, when they occupied the hills, saw four or five hundred Turks 'skirr away' in one body, and the machine-gunners found a target. }}
  • :* {{quote-book
  • |year=1920 |year_published=2008 |edition=HTML |editor= |author=Edgar Rice Burroughs |title=Thuvia, Maiden of Mars |chapter= citation |genre= |publisher=The Gutenberg Project |isbn= |page= |passage= ... but that they had no thought to let the thing go unnoticed was quickly evidenced by the skirring of motors upon the landing-stage and the quick shooting airward of a long-lined patrol boat. }}
  • To search about in, scour
  • :* {{quote-book
  • |year=1851 |year_published=2009 |edition=HTML |editor= |author=Washington Irving |title=Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada |chapter= citation |genre= |publisher=The Gutenberg Project |isbn= |page= |passage=The gates of Granada once more poured forth legions of light scouring cavalry, which skirred the country up to the very gates of the Christian fortresses, sweeping off flocks and herds. }}
  • to pass over quickly, skim
  • Usage notes

    Often mistakenly used instead of skirl.

    References

    * Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 2003 * Oxford Dictionary Online, skirr

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (UK|dialect) A tern.
  • (Webster 1913)