| skinch | To give scant measure; to squeeze or pinch in order to effect a saving. Origin: Cf. Scant. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| skinflint | A penurious person; a miser; a niggard. Origin: Skin + flint. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skinfold thickness | The measurement of subcutaneous fat located directly beneath the skin by grasping a fold of skin and subcutaneous fat between the thumb and forefinger and pulling it away from the underlying muscle tissue. The thickness of the double layer of skin and subcutaneous tissue is then read with a caliper. The five most frequently measured sites are the upper arm, below the scapula, above the hip bone, the abdomen, and the thigh. Its application is the determination of relative fatness, of changes in physical conditioning programs, and of the percentage of body fat in desirable body weight. (12 Dec 1998) |
| skinful | As much as a skin can hold. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skink | To draw or serve, as drink. "Bacchus the wine them skinketh all about." (Chaucer) "Such wine as Ganymede doth skink to Jove." (Shirley) Origin: Icel. Skenja; akin to Sw. Skaka, Dan. Skienke, AS. Scencan, D. & G. Schenken. As. Scencan is usually derived from sceonc, sceanc, shank, a hollow bone being supposed to have been used to draw off liquor from a cask. See Shank, and cf. Nunchion. To serve or draw liquor. Drink; also, pottage. <zoology> Any one of numerous species of regularly scaled harmless lizards of the family Scincidae, common in the warmer parts of all the continents. The officinal skink (Scincus officinalis) inhabits the sandy plains of South Africa. It was believed by the ancients to be a specific for various diseases. A common slender species (Seps tridactylus) of Southern Europe was formerly believed to produce fatal diseases in cattle by mere contact. The American skinks include numerous species of the genus Eumeces, as the blue-tailed skink (E. Fasciatus) of the Eastern United States. The ground skink, or ground lizard (Oligosoma laterale) inhabits the Southern United States. Origin: L. Scincus, Gr Alternative forms: scink. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skinker | One who serves liquor; a tapster. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skinless | Having no skin, or a very thin skin; as, skinless fruit. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skinner | 1. One who skins. 2. One who deals in skins, pelts, or hides. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Skinner, Burrhus | <person> U.S. Psychologist, 1904-1990. See: skinnerian conditioning, Skinner box. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skinnerian conditioning | A type of conditioning developed by Skinner in which an experimenter waits for the target response (head scratching) to be conditioned to occur (emitted) spontaneously, immediately after which the organism is given a reinforcer reward; after this procedure is repeated many times, the frequency of emission of the targeted response will have significantly increased over its pre-experiment base rate. See: schedules of reinforcement. Synonym: skinnerian conditioning. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skinniness | Quality of being skinny. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skinny | Consisting, or chiefly consisting, of skin; wanting flesh. "Her skinny lips." "He holds him with a skinny hand." (Coleridge) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skip | 1. A basket. See Skep. 2. A basket on wheels, used in cotton factories. 3. <chemical> An iron bucket, which slides between guides, for hoisting mineral and rock. 4. A charge of sirup in the pans. 5. A beehive; a skep. See: Skep. 1. A light leap or bound. 2. The act of passing over an interval from one thing to another; an omission of a part. 3. A passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once. Skip kennel, a lackey; a footboy. Skip mackerel. <zoology> See Bluefish. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| skip areas | Subsidiary segments of diseased intestine or colon in regional enteritis or Crohn's colitis, separated from the region of major involvement. (05 Mar 2000) |
| skipjack | 1. An upstart. 2. <zoology> An elater; a snap bug, or snapping beetle. 3. <zoology> A name given to several kinds of a fish, as the common bluefish, the alewife, the bonito, the butterfish, the cutlass fish, the jurel, the leather jacket, the runner, the saurel, the saury, the threadfish, etc. 4. A shallow sailboat with a rectilinear or V-shaped cross-section. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |