skiff

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

skiff

(skĭf)

A flatbottom open boat of shallow draft, having a pointed bow and a square stern and propelled by oars, sail, or motor.

[Middle English skif, from Old French esquif, from Old Italian schifo, of Germanic origin.]

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.

skiff

(skɪf)

(Nautical Terms) any of various small boats propelled by oars, sail, or motor

[C18: from French esquif, from Old Italian schifo a boat, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German schif ship]

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

skiff

(skɪf)

n.

any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.

[1565–75; (< Middle French esquif) < Italian schifo < Langobardic; compare Old High German scif ship]

skiff′less, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

skiff - any of various small boats propelled by oars or by sails or by a motor

sampan - an Asian skiff usually propelled by two oars

small boat - a boat that is small

Translations

batel

esquif skiff

barca a remi

skiff

[skɪf] N → esquife m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

skiff

[ˈskɪf] n (= boat) → skiff m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

skiff

n → Skiff nt; (Sport) → Einer m

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

skiff

[skɪf] n (boat) → skiff m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Skiff Miller patted the dog's head, and slowly and solemnly repeated, "Well, I'll be damned!"

View in context

When I was fourteen, my head filled with the tales of the old voyagers, my vision with tropic isles and far sea-rims, I was sailing a small centreboard skiff around San Francisco Bay and on the Oakland Estuary.

View in context

A mile below the village the black boy dipped his paddle into the water and forced his skiff toward the bank.

View in context

The remonstrance came too late; the canoe was already far from the skiff, and the two hunters were too much engaged in the pursuit to listen to his voice.

View in context

Concealing the child beneath the other articles of clothing he pushed off from the bank, and, rowing close to the shore, hastened down the Thames toward the old dock where, the previous night, he had concealed his skiff. He reached his destination unnoticed, and, running in beneath the dock, worked the boat far into the dark recess of the cave-like retreat.

View in context

He crept down the bank, watching with all his eyes, slipped into the water, swam three or four strokes and climbed into the skiff that did "yawl" duty at the boat's stern.

View in context

I had covered some hundred yards from shore when it became evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of the skiff within the next half-dozen strokes.

View in context

Thus, then, did these three worthies embark in their cockleshell of a skiff upon this nocturnal expedition, with a wisdom and valor equaled only by the three wise men of Gotham,[1] who adventured to sea in a bowl.

View in context

The vague disquietude which prevailed among the spectators had so much affected one of the crowd that he did not await the arrival of the vessel in harbor, but jumping into a small skiff, desired to be pulled alongside the Pharaon, which he reached as she rounded into La Reserve basin.

View in context

A grinning small boy, in a small, bright-painted and half-decked skiff, sailed close in to the wall and let go his sheet to spill the wind.

View in context

One glance, however, was sufficient; and it was only one glance that I durst take from that unsteady skiff. It showed me Hands and his companion locked together in deadly wrestle, each with a hand upon the other's throat.

View in context

So he watched out for me one day in the spring, and catched me, and took me up the river about three mile in a skiff, and crossed over to the Illinois shore where it was woody and there warn't no houses but an old log hut in a place where the timber was so thick you couldn't find it if you didn't know where it was.