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Definition 2024
skell
skell
English
Alternative forms
Noun
skell (plural skells)
- (slang, US, New York) a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.
- Did you see those two skells lying in the doorway?
- (slang, US, New York) (informal police jargon) A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler. (Compare scumbag.) Popularized on the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:vagabond
Verb
skell (third-person singular simple present skells, present participle skelling, simple past and past participle skelled)
- (slang) To fall off or fall over
- She went skelling over on the ice.
References
- The City in Slang, New York Life and Popular Speech, by Irving Lewis Allen, 1993.
- Dictionary of American Regional English, by Joan Houston Hall, 2002