skirt

n. [ OE. skyrt, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. skyrta a shirt, Sw. skört a skirt, skjorta a shirt. See Shirt. ] 1. The lower and loose part of a coat, dress, or other like garment; the part below the waist; as, the skirt of a coat, a dress, or a mantle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A loose edging to any part of a dress. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A narrow lace, or a small skirt of ruffled linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty piece. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything “Here in the skirts of the forest.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A petticoat. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Skirted; p. pr. & vb. n. Skirting. ] 1. To cover with a skirt; to surround. [ 1913 Webster ]

Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To border; to form the border or edge of; to run along the edge of; as, the plain was skirted by rows of trees. “When sundown skirts the moor.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To be on the border; to live near the border, or extremity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Savages . . . who skirt along our western frontiers. S. S. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]