skell
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛl
Etymology 1
- Perhaps from skeleton, describing the often skeletal appearance of drug users.
- Alternatively, from skellum or skelder ("to beg in the streets"). Used by Ben Jonson, 1599.
- In the sense of a suspicious person, popularized by the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.
Alternative forms
- skel
Noun
skell (plural skells)
- (slang, US, New York) a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.
- Did you see those two skells lying in the doorway?
- (slang, US, New York, police jargon) A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:vagabond
References
- The City in Slang, New York Life and Popular Speech, by Irving Lewis Allen, 1993.
- Dictionary of American Regional English, by Joan Houston Hall, 2002
Verb
skell (third-person singular simple present skells, present participle skelling, simple past and past participle skelled)
- (slang, intransitive) To fall off or fall over.
- She went skelling over on the ice.
Anagrams
- Kells, kells
Icelandic
Verb
skell (strong)
- first-person singular present indicative of skella
- second-person singular imperative of skella
Verb
skell (weak)
- second-person singular imperative of skella