Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as skiving-knife.
  • noun Leather split by the skiving-knife; a thin leather made of the grained side of split sheepskin tanned in sumac. It is used for cheap bindings for books, the lining of hats, pocket-books, etc. Compare skiving.
  • noun In shoe manufacturing, a machine for cutting counters for shoes and for making rands; a leather-skiving machine.
  • noun An old form of dirk.
  • noun A skewer.
  • To skewer; impale.
  • To scatter; disperse; fly apart or in various directions, as a flock of birds.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An inferior quality of leather, made of split sheepskin, tanned by immersion in sumac, and dyed. It is used for hat linings, pocketbooks, bookbinding, etc.
  • noun The cutting tool or machine used in splitting leather or skins, as sheepskins.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who uses a skive (or skives).
  • noun A slacker.
  • noun dialect A skewer.
  • noun An inferior quality of leather, made of split sheepskin, tanned by immersion in sumac, and dyed, formerly used for hat linings, pocketbooks, bookbinding, etc.
  • noun The cutting tool or machine used in splitting leather or skins.
  • verb To skewer, impale.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • (Oxford English Dictionary) [31.1] A skiver is a skewer onto which meat would be threaded for cooking.

    Inventory of Robert Carter's Estate, November [1733] 1733

  • The point is that even those of a "skiver" mentality who entered employment with the more enlightened companies quickly changed their attitude.

    Army Rumour Service 2009

  • De niggers soon 'skiver' dat he wuz a Yankee, en dat he come down ter Norf C'lina fer ter learn de w'ite folks how to raise grapes en make wine.

    The Goophered Grapevine 1887

  • "W'en Mars Marrabo 'skiver' dat Sandy wuz gone, he 'lowed Sandy had runned away.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue Various

  • "W'en Mars Marrabo 'skiver' dat Sandy wuz gone, he 'lowed Sandy had runned away.

    Po' Sandy 1888

  • The skiver of the year trophy goes to Gerry from TWN Construction, for surfing in Newquay while claiming to be stuck up a crane at the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium.

    What's Going On Mark Steel 2009

  • By the heyday of the binder's craft, the early to mid eighteenth century, two types of leather were recognized as the best: skiver, or lambskin, which was strong but so thin that it scarcely required any paring, and Moroccan goatskin, which was highly valued for its skiver-like characteristics combined with its delightful reddish color.

    Books: Modernity's Abuse of an Art Donald Goodman 2008

  • By the heyday of the binder's craft, the early to mid eighteenth century, two types of leather were recognized as the best: skiver, or lambskin, which was strong but so thin that it scarcely required any paring, and Moroccan goatskin, which was highly valued for its skiver-like characteristics combined with its delightful reddish color.

    Archive 2008-02-01 Athanasius 2008

  • Objects from Sell Cave. a, Pestles or grinding stones; b, celt, pottery disks, paint stones, and skiver 46 17.

    Archeological Investigations Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 76 Gerard Fowke 1894

  • Bone and shell in small amounts were found here, and among them the skiver shown at d in plate 36.

    Archeological Investigations Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 76 Gerard Fowke 1894

Comments

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  • I use this as a synonmym for "shirker," which is apparently not a terribly common usage. Huh.

    December 10, 2006

  • Does this have anything to do with aebleskivers?

    April 26, 2011