Definition of skive
skives;
skived;
skiving
transitive + intransitive
British, informal
: to avoid work or school by staying away or by leaving without permission
- … 71 per cent said rewards for good ideas and punctuality would make them work harder and not skive …
- —South Wales Evening Post
- Tam is 15 and he's skiving school.
- —Julie Mccaffrey
- I once worked in a hospital garden where my workmate skived off every day with "backache" and disappeared to work on his car at home.
- —Louis De Bernières
