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skew

Syllabification: (skew)
Pronunciation: /skyo͞o/
Translate skew | into German | into Italian
Definition of skew

adjective

  • 1neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; askew; crooked:his hat looked slightly skew a skew angle
  • Statistics (of a statistical distribution) not symmetrical.
  • 2 Mathematics (of a pair of lines) neither parallel nor intersecting.
  • (of a curve) not lying in a plane.

noun

  • an oblique angle; a slant.
  • a bias toward one particular group or subject:the paper had a working-class skew
  • Statistics the state of not being symmetrical.

verb

[no object]
  • suddenly change direction or position:the car had skewed across the track
  • twist or turn or cause to do this:he skewed around in his saddle [with object]:his leg was skewed in and pushed against the other one
  • [with object] make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading:the curriculum is skewed toward the practical subjects
  • [with object] Statistics cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical.

Derivatives

skewness

noun

Origin:

late Middle English (as a verb in the sense 'move obliquely'): shortening of Old Northern French eskiuwer, variant of Old French eschiver 'eschew'. The adjective and noun (early 17th century) are from the verb

skew in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of skew in the British & World English dictionary