skive

verb

Definition of skivenext
as in to shave

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of skive The graduation ceremony and the reception afterward are cute and heartwarming for the grown-ups, bittersweet and mortifying for the kids, who skive off to smoke some of Ed’s high-test weed and have a little Texas Forever moment, toasting their enduring friendships. — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skive
  1. shave
  2. shear
  3. whittle
  4. nip
  5. dock
  6. pare
  7. snip
  8. clip
Verb
  • Judge Underhill could have added to the 10 years of incarceration that the federal sentencing guidelines recommend but instead departed downward from them and shaved three years off them.
    — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The option could be useful when customers don’t have enough miles for the entire ticket and are looking to shave some cash off the ticket price.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of shave
Verb
  • If conditions are dry, the foliage will begin to yellow and can be sheared to the crown.
    — Marie Iannotti, The Spruce, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Once inside, they’re restrained, sometimes blindfolded to preserve their sanity, and carefully sheared before being released.
    — Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of shear
Verb
  • Frank Senior was a barber who dreamed of being a singer, a nasty cur who beat his two sons and verbally whittled them down to a nub.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
  • This year’s effort was initially much broader, but a last-minute deal whittled it down to limit certain local taxes in return for legislators’ dropping a measure that would have required anti-tax measures to meet a two-thirds threshold.
    — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of whittle
Verb
  • Over the years, the Raiders have nipped the Chiefs here and there, which is typical across divisional play.
    — Pete Sweeney October 5, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026
  • This is an issue that, to my mind, keeps nipping at the heels of the current crop of directorial It Boys.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of nip
Verb
  • Running back Kenneth Walker was fined $8,000 by the NFL for throwing the ball out of the end zone in the Chiefs’ season opener against the Denver Broncos, and guard Trey Smith was docked $6,750 for a chop block in that game.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Electric tugs docked alongside an LNG carrier being loaded at the LNG Canada docks in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, July 14, 2025.
    — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of dock
Verb
  • Related Stories Skydance has a tight runway through the end of 2029 to significantly pare down the long-term debt on the company’s books.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Since their debut in 1986, American Girl has shrunk their historical line significantly–including paring down the traditional six-book set for each historical character into two streamlined texts.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of pare
Verb
  • The janitor resumed steadily snipping the bushes with her shears.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Three hours after Thomas Jefferson died at his Monticello home on July 4, 1826, his personal secretary, Nicholas Trist, snipped a lock of the Founder’s gray hair, still faintly reddish blond.
    — Andrew Lawler, The Atlantic, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of snip
Verb
  • The sequence stylistically excises itself from the episode as though clipping it, anticipating its excision from the show when uploaded to a video-sharing platform.
    — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • These hairs, including a lock clipped at his deathbed, were in a packet provided by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, and had not previously been available for analysis.
    — Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of clip

Browse Nearby Words

skittishness
skive
skived
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Cite this Entry

“Skive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skive. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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