Skeletonizer
(Skel"e*ton*i`zer) n. (Zoöl.) Any small moth whose larva eats the parenchyma of leaves,
leaving the skeleton; as, the apple-leaf skeletonizer.
Skellum
(Skel"lum) n. [Dan. schelm, fr. G. schelm.] A scoundrel. [Obs. or Scot.] Pepys. Burns.
Skelly
(Skel"ly) v. i. [Cf. Dan. skele, Sw. skela.] To squint. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Sir W. Scott.
Skelly
(Skel"ly), n. A squint. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Skelp
(Skelp) n. [Cf. Prov. E. skelp to kick severely, to move rapidly; Gael. sgealp, n., a slap with the
palm of the hand, v., to strike with the palm of the hand.]
1. A blow; a smart stroke. [Prov. Eng.] Brockett.
2. A squall; also, a heavy fall of rain. [Scot.]
Skelp
(Skelp), v. t. To strike; to slap. [Scot.] C. Reade.
Skelp
(Skelp), n. A wrought-iron plate from which a gun barrel or pipe is made by bending and welding
the edges together, and drawing the thick tube thus formed.
Skelter
(Skel"ter) v. i. [Cf. Helter- skelter.] To run off helter-skelter; to hurry; to scurry; — with away or
off. [Colloq.] A. R. Wallace.
Sken
(Sken) v. i. To squint. [Prov. Eng.]
Skene
(Skene) n. See Skean. C. Kingsley.
Skep
(Skep) n. [Icel. skeppa a measure, bushel; cf. Gael. sgeap a basket, a beehive.]
1. A coarse round farm basket. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Tusser.
2. A beehive. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Skeptic
(Skep"tic) n. [Gr. skeptiko`s thoughtful, reflective, fr. ske`ptesqai to look carefully or about, to
view, consider: cf. L. scepticus, F. sceptique. See Scope.] [Written also sceptic.]
1. One who is yet undecided as to what is true; one who is looking or inquiring for what is true; an inquirer
after facts or reasons.
2. (Metaph.) A doubter as to whether any fact or truth can be certainly known; a universal doubter; a
Pyrrhonist; hence, in modern usage, occasionally, a person who questions whether any truth or fact can
be established on philosophical grounds; sometimes, a critical inquirer, in opposition to a dogmatist.
All this criticism [of Hume] proceeds upon the erroneous hypothesis that he was a dogmatist. He was
a skeptic; that is, he accepted the principles asserted by the prevailing dogmatism: and only showed that
such and such conclusions were, on these principles, inevitable.
Sir W. Hamilton. 3. (Theol.) A person who doubts the existence and perfections of God, or the truth of revelation; one
who disbelieves the divine origin of the Christian religion.
Suffer not your faith to be shaken by the sophistries of skeptics.
S. Clarke. This word and its derivatives are often written with c instead of k in the first syllable, — sceptic, sceptical,
scepticism, etc. Dr. Johnson, struck with the extraordinary irregularity of giving c its hard sound before
e, altered the spelling, and his example has been followed by most of the lexicographers who have succeeded
him; yet the prevalent practice among English writers and printers is in favor of the other mode. In the
