Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Skilful; intelligent; experienced.
- Same as
skelly .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Scotland
skilful .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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It was what he had been used to see as a boy when his parents were alive, for his father before him had been a "skeely" man in that line.
Stories of the Border Marches Jeanie Lang
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Soon not a boat was left in port; even those whose weather-wise "skeely" old skippers had counselled caution, at length, against their will and better judgment, were shamed into starting.
Stories of the Border Marches Jeanie Lang
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She was a kind woman, and seemed skeely about horned beasts.
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On the last day of the time fixed by him, the skeely man was thatching a cottage at the Woollaw.
Stories of the Border Marches Jeanie Lang
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Ochiltree, is very skeely and auld-farrant about mony things, as the diseases of cows and horse, and sic like, and I am sure be disna want to be at Tannonburgh the day for naething, since he insists on't this gate; and, if your leddyship pleases, I'll drive him there in the taxed-cart in an hour's time.
The Antiquary 1845
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Eh, man, Edie! but she was a trimmer --- it wad hae taen a skeely man to hae squared wi 'her!
The Antiquary 1845
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I learned shortly, that his father and mother had arrived, which was one comfort; but that matters with poor Mungo were striding on from bad to worse, being pronounced, by a skeely doctor, to be in a galloping consumption -- and not able to be removed home, a thing that the laddie freaked and pined for night and day.
The Life of Mansie Wauch tailor in Dalkeith David Macbeth Moir 1824
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I learned shortly, that his father and mother had arrived, which was one comfort; but that matters with poor Mungo were striding on from bad to worse, being pronounced, by a skeely doctor, to be in a galloping consumption -- and not able to be removed home, a thing that the laddie freaked and pined for night and day.
The Life of Mansie Wauch Tailor in Dalkeith, written by himself David Macbeth Moir 1824
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She was a kind woman, and seemed skeely about horned beasts.
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She was a kind woman, and seemed skeely about horned beasts.
The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Complete Walter Scott 1801
yarb commented on the word skeely
'...she read the Richard that she knew and loved in these long fingers, stained by his skeely trade and scored with cuts commemorative of adventure and bronzed with golden weather...'
- Rebecca West, The Judge
September 4, 2009
yarb commented on the word skeely
Does anyone know what this means? It's from an ebook so could be an OCR error.
September 4, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word skeely
Could be a "t" as in "steely", where the "t" was accompanied by an ink-acid stain, woody inclusion or other flaw in the paper that the OCR tried its best to interpret. I found typos like this frequently in pages generated by an OCR that I proofread for the Gutenberg Project via Distributed Proofreaders. Check the context of "his" trade - work with metals or blades" - note the use of "cuts" and "bronzed" in the quote. Perhaps he worked in a foundry or as a smithy or a sword maker?
September 4, 2009
yarb commented on the word skeely
He's a scientist working with explosives.
But I'm home now and look what OED says:
"variant of skilly a. Sc. and north."
September 4, 2009