skirt
skirt / skərt/ • n. a woman's outer garment fastened around the waist and hanging down around the legs. ∎ the part of a coat or dress that hangs below the waist. ∎ inf., chiefly offens. a woman or women regarded as objects of sexual desire: so, Al, off to chase some skirt? ∎ the curtain that hangs around the base of a hovercraft to contain the air cushion. ∎ a surface that conceals or protects the wheels or underside of a vehicle or aircraft. ∎ a small flap on a saddle, covering the bar from which the stirrup leather hangs. ∎ archaic an edge, border, or extreme part. Compare with outskirts.• v. [tr.] go around or past the edge of: he did not go through the city but skirted it. ∎ be situated along or around the edge of: the fields that skirted the highway were full of cattle. ∎ [intr.] (skirt along/around) go along or around (something) rather than directly through or across it: the river valley skirts along the northern slopes of the hills. ∎ attempt to ignore; avoid dealing with: there was a subject she was always skirting | [intr.] the treaty skirted around the question of political cooperation. DERIVATIVES: skirt·ed adj. [in comb.] a full-skirted dress.