Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Skew \Skew\, n. (Arch.)
A stone at the foot of the slope of a gable, the offset of a
buttress, or the like, cut with a sloping surface and with a
check to receive the coping stones and retain them in place.
Skew \Skew\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Skewed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Skewing}.]
1. To walk obliquely; to go sidling; to lie or move
obliquely.
Child, you must walk straight, without skewing.
--L'Estrange.
2. To start aside; to shy, as a horse. [Prov. Eng.]
3. To look obliquely; to squint; hence, to look slightingly
or suspiciously. --Beau. & Fl.
Skew \Skew\, a.
Turned or twisted to one side; situated obliquely; skewed; --
chiefly used in technical phrases.
{Skew arch}, an oblique arch. See under {Oblique}.
{Skew back}. (Civil Engin.)
(a) The course of masonry, the stone, or the iron plate,
having an inclined face, which forms the abutment for the
voussoirs of a segmental arch.
(b) A plate, cap, or shoe, having an inclined face to receive
the nut of a diagonal brace, rod, or the end of an
inclined strut, in a truss or frame.
{Skew bridge}. See under {Bridge}, n.
{Skew curve} (Geom.), a curve of double curvature, or a
twisted curve. See {Plane curve}, under {Curve}.
{Skew gearing}, or {Skew bevel gearing} (Mach.), toothed
gearing, generally resembling bevel gearing, for
connecting two shafts that are neither parallel nor
intersecting, and in which the teeth slant across the
faces of the gears.
{Skew surface} (Geom.), a ruled surface such that in general
two successive generating straight lines do not intersect;
a warped surface; as, the helicoid is a skew surface.
{Skew symmetrical determinant} (Alg.), a determinant in which
the elements in each column of the matrix are equal to the
elements of the corresponding row of the matrix with the
signs changed, as in (1), below. (1) 0 2 -3-2 0 53 -5 0
(2) 4 -1 71 8 -2-7 2 1
Note: This requires that the numbers in the diagonal from the
upper left to lower right corner be zeros. A like
determinant in which the numbers in the diagonal are
not zeros is a skew determinant, as in (2), above.
Skew \Skew\, adv. [Cf. D. scheef. Dan. ski?v, Sw. skef, Icel.
skeifr, G. schief, also E. shy, a. & v. i.]
Awry; obliquely; askew.
Skew \Skew\, v. t. [See {Skew}, adv.]
1. To shape or form in an oblique way; to cause to take an
oblique position.
2. To throw or hurl obliquely.
Source : WordNet®
skew
v : turn or place at an angle; "the lines on the sheet of paper
are skewed" [ant: {align}]
skew
adj : having an oblique or slanting direction or position; "the
picture was skew" [syn: {skewed}]