skif·fle

(skĭf′əl)

Jazz, folk, or country music played by performers who use unconventional instruments, such as kazoos, washboards, or jugs, sometimes in combination with conventional instruments.

[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

skiffle

(ˈskɪfəl)

(Music, other) a style of popular music of the 1950s, played chiefly on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

[C20: of unknown origin]

skiffle

(ˈskɪfəl)

(Physical Geography) dialect Ulster a drizzle: a skiffle of rain.

[from Scottish skiff, from skiff to move lightly, probably changed from skift, from Old Norse skipta shift]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

skif•fle

(ˈskɪf əl)

n.

a jazz or popular music style played by a band of performers using both standard instruments and improvisations, as washboard, ceramic jug, washtub, and kazoo.

[1920–25; orig. uncertain]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

skiffle - a style of popular music in the 1950s; based on American folk music and played on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

popular music, popular music genre - any genre of music having wide appeal (but usually only for a short time)

Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom

Translations

skiffle

n → Skiffle m; skiffle group → Skifflegroup f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in periodicals archive

On Saturday, it's the Skiffle Band, followed by the Tenovus Choir, Dylan and Niel, The One Steel Band, Band6, Y Cyffro and headlining are festival regulars Y Moniars.

Y Moniars at Rail Ale fest

Seamus Heffernan and Aidan O'Brien might also land the Group 3 Snow Fairy Fillies Stakes with Somehow, which is closely matched with British raider Skiffle on their Investec Oaks form, when they finished fourth and fifth respectively behind Minding at Epsom.

CROSS HAS THE CLASS TO SCALE THE TOWER; SUNDAY RACE PREVIEWS

Nowadays, skiffle may be looked on as the slightly unkempt poor relation to rock and roll, but then it was something of a musical revolution.

Skiffle is where it all began!

| Jim with Sir Paul " Lonnie was the undisputed King of Skiffle in the 1950s and inspired UK teenagers like Roger Daltrey, Van Morrison and the Beatles.

best music

Jim, on the other hand, was stopped in his tracks when he heard The King of Skiffle as a boy and saw him performing at a seaside variety theatre during the summer holidays.

Jim's skiffle with Paul; Downton Abbey favourite goes on a pilgrimage to explore the life of Scottish musician Lonnie Donegan and how he inspired a generation of musical superstars including Beatles legend McCartney and Van Morrison

In this documentary, the lifelong Lonnie Donegan fan Jim Carter tells the story of the fifties King of Skiffle.

Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and [...]

JIM CARTER: LONNIE DONEGAN AND ME ITV, 10.20pm The Downton Abbey star examines the influence of the 1950s singer, who released six number one singles at the height of the skiffle craze and was cited by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as a major influence in writing their own songs.

TV CHOICE

The first 10 songs in the series were unveiled on Wednesday, representing an eclectic mix of styles from skiffle to punk.

BBC Radio to tell story of 'Britain' through 50 songs

The Quarrymen were a British skiffle and rock and roll group, formed by Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960.

All hail The Quarrymen

Quiz of the Day ANSWERS: 1 The Netherlands; 2 A statue of a Hindu deity drawn on a giant cart; 3 Flashman; 4 The badger; 5 Wine bottles; 6 Margo Leadbetter; 7 It is the protective body shell of insects or crustaceans; 8 Berry; 9 Skiffle; 10 Queen Anne.

Quiz of the Day

"I think you and Maria would go down a storm fronting Primark but, if you would like to make a duo into a quartet, I could bring my tambourine and skiffle stick (complete with bottle tops) and my friend Peggy is fabulous playing the spoons."

Fab Four to belt it out for you