Skirt (?), n. [OE. skyrt, of
Scand. origin; cf. Icel. skyrta a shirt, Sw. skört
a skirt, skjorta a shirt. See Shirt.] 1.
The lower and loose part of a coat, dress, or other like garment;
the part below the waist; as, the skirt of a coat, a dress, or
a mantle.
2. A loose edging to any part of a
dress. [Obs.]
A narrow lace, or a small skirt of ruffled
linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and
crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty
piece.
Addison.
3. Border; edge; margin; extreme part of
anything "Here in the skirts of the forest."
Shak.
4. A petticoat.
5. The diaphragm, or midriff, in
animals. Dunglison.
Skirt, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Skirted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Skirting.] 1. To cover with a skirt; to
surround.
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy
gold.
Milton.
2. To border; to form the border or edge of;
to run along the edge of; as, the plain was skirted by rows of
trees. "When sundown skirts the moor."
Tennyson.
Skirt, v. t. To be on the border;
to live near the border, or extremity.
Savages . . . who skirt along our western
frontiers.
S. S. Smith.