What Is the Meaning of Skid?
Skid is a noun or a verb. Skid's various meanings relate to movement, whether it refers to the sliding of a car or to the tools used to ease the movement of lumber, small boats or other shipments from one platform to another.
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Sliding
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To skid is to slide sideways without rotating, as when a car hits uneven or slick patches on the road and suddenly veers to the side. Skid as a noun describes this act of sliding.
Braking
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On brakes, a skid is mechanism that drags against a wheel to slow a moving vehicle. On some aircrafts, it is also a part of the landing gear. The verb form of skid can mean "to brake" when the brakes are the kind that use skids against wheels.
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Nautical Usage
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In nautical terms, a skid is a framework made of wood that is attached to the side of a ship. The skid protects the ship and materials, such as small boats, that are being loaded or unloaded.
Lumbering
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In lumbering and elsewhere, a skid is a contraption, usually made of wood, that is meant to guide logs or other materials safely from one platform to another. In fact, in lumbering, a skid is often simply one or two logs laid long for easy loading or unloading of the other logs. A skid also describes a kind of planked road, or it can describe a structure with sideboards and no bottom.
Slang Usage
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In slang usage, "on the skids" means sliding out of control toward demise. Likewise, the phrase "skid row" refers to a squalid district where people who appear to be on the skids live.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson
