skid

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun one of a pair of planks used to make a track for rolling or sliding objects
  2. noun a restraint provided when the brake linings are moved hydraulically against the brake drum to retard the wheel's rotation
  3. noun an unexpected slide

Etymology

From Middle English *skid, from Old Norse skíð (“a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which something rests”), from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“log, clapboard”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey-t-, *skey- (“to split, divide, separate”). Cognate with English shide, from Middle English schyd, schyde, schide (“plank, beam”), German Scheit (“piece of wood, log”). Doublet of ski.

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