skiver meaning (informal): definition, etymology and quotations

skiver

noun

UK /ˈskaɪvə/ · US /ˈskaɪvəɹ/

Etymology From skive (“play truant”) + -er. Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”).

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Informal A slacker.

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Informal A truant; one who is absent without permission, especially from school.

skiver

verb

Etymology From skive (“to shave”) + -er. Probably from Dutch schijf (“slice”), probably influenced by shive.

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Dialectal, Informal To skewer, impale.

[…] it's I that wishes I could be sure 'twas malice, I'd skiver you, heels and elbows, on my sword, and roast you alive on that fire.1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “The Dead Secret, Showing how the Fire-worker Proved to Puddock that Nutter Had Spied Out the Nakedness of the Land”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 102:
I'll finish heating the oven, and set you free to go and skiver up them ducks.1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, “chapter 9”, in The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

skiver

noun

Etymology From skive (“to shave”) + -er. Probably from Dutch schijf (“slice”), probably influenced by shive.

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Informal One who uses a skive (or skives).

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Dialectal, Informal A skewer.

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Informal An inferior quality of leather, made of split sheepskin, tanned by immersion in sumac, and dyed, formerly used for hat linings, pocketbooks, bookbinding, etc.

Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, Informal The cutting tool or machine used in splitting leather or skins.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.