Skid

How to spell skid

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce skid

What does skid mean?

1. verbTo slide uncontrollably, usually sideways, across a slippery surface.
2. nounAn act of sliding without control, or a runner or beam used to support or move a heavy load.

Skid in a sentence

• verb

  The car began to skid on the icy road.

• noun

  The long skid left a black mark across the motorway.

• verb

  Heavy rain can make even a careful driver skid at the junction.

• noun

  Workers placed each engine on a wooden skid before lifting it.

Where does skid come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

Skid arrived in English around the seventeenth century, most likely from the Old Norse word skíð, which meant a split length of wood, a billet, or a snowshoe runner. That same Norse root gives us the modern word ski, and the link makes sense: a skid was originally a wooden plank or beam laid down so that heavy loads could be dragged or rolled along it. From the idea of something sliding over a smooth surface, the meaning broadened in the nineteenth century to describe a vehicle or its wheels sliding sideways without grip, especially on ice or wet ground. The verb sense of slipping uncontrollably grew directly out of this. The spelling stays refreshingly simple, with no silent letters or doubled consonants, which is why the single d at the end is the only point worth remembering.

How the word is built

• skid (single root; likely from Old Norse skíð, a split piece of wood, ski or billet)