skeet
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /skiːt/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -iːt
Etymology 1
Pseudo-archaic alteration of shoot, perhaps with reference to Old Norse skjóta; compare Scots skite (“to dart, to shoot”).[1] The name for a form of trapshooting is attested from the 1920s,[2] see quotations below. Senses related to ejaculation of semen likely derive from this, but compare also squirt,[3] skite, or scoot.[4] The word skeet is attested in reference to working class persons in US English from the 19th century,[2] or the Newfoundland and Labrador regionalism may derive from other terms such as skite or skeeter; see quotation below.
Noun
skeet (countable and uncountable, plural skeets)
- (uncountable) A form of trapshooting using clay targets to simulate birds in flight.
- 1929, “Skeet”, in West Virginia Wildlife, volume 7, page 22:
- THE ARTICLE on the sport of Skeet that appeared in the June issue of WILD LIFE described the layout of the Skeet field, installation of the traps, and the rules and regulations for Skeet shooting.
- 1932, Charles Askins, “Notes on skeet”, in Outdoor Life, page 40:
- The longer I shoot skeet the more convinced I am that it is the greatest game ever devised for the users of shotguns. Skeet has brought home to shooters the need of properly fitting guns and the benefit of straighter stocks
- [1940, “In the Spring—Skeet”, in Scientific American, page 363:
- To Mrs. Gertrude Hurlbutt, Montana rancher’s wife, went a $100 prize in 1926 from National Sportsman and Hunting and Fishing magazines for christening their newly sponsored shotgun sport “skeet” – Scandinavian derivation, meaning “to shoot.”]
- (countable, poker) A hand consisting of a 9, a 5, a 2, and two other cards lower than 9.
- (uncountable, slang, African-American Vernacular) The ejaculation of semen.
- (countable, Newfoundland, Labrador, slang) A young working-class person who may be loud, disruptive and poorly educated.
- [2010, Sandra Clarke, Newfoundland and Labrador English, page 151:
- A small part at least of the language associated with younger speakers originates in local words that appear to have undergone local meaning change. A good example is skeet. This term may be related to skite which in neighbouring Prince Edward Island can mean a 'young scoundrel' (Pratt 1988), or to the American terms skeester/skeeter, definied by the Dictionary of American Regional English (Cassidy and Hall 1985) as 'rascal, rogue'. If older NLE speakers know this word at all, they would probably use it in this sense. Among younger speakers, however, it has much the same meaning as such British slang terms as chav, charver or scally, or even the North American white trash.]
Derived terms
Translations
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Verb
skeet (third-person singular simple present skeets, present participle skeeting, simple past and past participle skeeted)
- (transitive, intransitive, of fluids) To shoot or spray.
- (African-American Vernacular, slang) To ejaculate.
- 2002 October 8, “Get Low” (track 19), in Kings of Crunk, performed by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz:
- To the window (To the window). To the wall (To the wall). Till the sweat drop down my balls (My balls). Till all these bitches crawl (Crawl). Till all skeet skeet motherfucker (Motherfucker).
- 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 17:
- "Good, then," I said, my joint about to skeet like a water pistol. I was surprised too. I was known for having supreme dick control, and I could usually last a lot longer than this.
- 2011, Deborah Carter, Wildflower, Lulu/self-published, →ISBN, page 177:
- I just don’t understand how women get pregnant nowadays, especially while they have no intention on making a baby, […] yet and still letting some dude, boyfriend, or friend with benefits slide in for a 7-10 split, and not exactly advising him to pull out before he accidentally skeets .
Synonyms
Translations
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Etymology 2
Unknown. Compare Icelandic skeið (“spoon”), from Old Norse skeið (“a sheath”). Attested from the 15th century; see quotation below.
Noun
skeet (plural skeets)
- (obsolete) A long-handled shovel or scoop.
- c. 1440, Arthur Brandeis, editor, Jacob's well : an Englisht treatise on the cleansing of man's conscience, published 1900, page 2:
- My werk & labour schal be to tellyn what is þis wose of þe vij. dedly synnes, & how ʒe schul caste out þis wose, ffirst wyth with a skeet of contricyoun, and after wyth a skauell of confession, and þanne schouelyn out clene þe crummys, wyth þe schouele of satisfaccyoun.
- My work and labor shall be to tell what is this ooze of the deadly sins, and how they shall cast out this ooze, first with the skeet of contrition and after with the spade of confession, and then shovel out the crumbs cleanly with the shovel of satisfaction.
- (nautical) [from 17th century] A scoop with a long handle, used to wash the sides of a vessel and formerly to wet the sails or deck.
- 1862, Vanderdecken [William Cooper], The Yacht Sailor, page 131:
- The best method for wetting the after sails is with a garden syringe or small engine […] For the head sails a skeet made of tough ash, having a good long handle ; the head or skeeting part curves scimitar fashion, to be about three and a half feet in length, and scooped out an inch and a half in width by two and a half inches in depth
Verb
skeet (third-person singular simple present skeets, present participle skeeting, simple past and past participle skeeted)
Etymology 3
Uncertain. Compare Manx skeetagh (“nosy”, adverb). Compare also English peek (“to look slyly; a quick glance”, verb or noun) or skit (“to caper; to be skittish”, verb).[5]
Verb
skeet (third-person singular simple present skeets, present participle skeeting, simple past and past participle skeeted)
- (Isle of Man) to look through the front windows of somebody else's house
Noun
skeet (plural skeets)
- (Internet slang) A post on the Bluesky social media platform.
- [2023 April 29, Sheera Frenkel, “Interest Builds Over Bluesky, A Social Site Akin to Twitter”, in New York Times, page B3:
- Bluesky’s users appear to be having fun with the app’s similarities to Twitter, including calling posts on the app “skeets,” as a play on tweets. Not even a plea from Ms. Graber on Thursday to change that name seems to have deterred them.]
Verb
skeet (third-person singular simple present skeets, present participle skeeting, simple past and past participle skeeted)
References
- “skeet”, in Dictionary.com, 2023 May 16 (last accessed): “First recorded in 1925–30; supposedly as the result of a contest to choose a name for the sport (the winner claimed that the word was “a very old form” of shoot)”
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “skeet”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 2023-05-16.
- Jonathon Green (2024) “skeet v1.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, retrieved 2023-05-16
- “skeet, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023.
- “skeet, n.2”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.