skew
oxford
views updated May 29 2018skew / skyoō/ •
adj. 1. neither 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. Math. (of a pair of lines) neither parallel nor intersecting. ∎ (of a curve) not lying in a plane.•
n. 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.•
v. [intr.] 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 | [tr.] his leg was skewed in and pushed against the other one. ∎ [tr.] make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading: the curriculum is skewed toward the practical subjects. ∎ [tr.] Statistics cause (a distribution) to be asymmetrical.DERIVATIVES: skew·ness n.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
skew
oxford
views updated Jun 11 2018skew In a
sequential circuit, the arrival of a signal at two or more places at significantly different times, when it should have arrived at more nearly the same time. Skew is said to be present when the difference in arrival times is great enough to cause or threaten malfunction of the circuit; this difference (usually measured in nanoseconds) is called the amount of skew. Most commonly, concern is expressed about
clock skew, which is the skew in
clock signals (for which the phenomenon has usually the most serious consequences). Skew may be caused by component malfunction, or bad physical construction, but most often by bad logic design of the circuit. See also
race condition.
A Dictionary of Computing JOHN DAINTITH
skew
oxford
views updated May 29 2018skew †escape XIV; move sideways or obliquely XV; look sideways XVI. Aphetic — ONF.
eskiu(w)er,
eskuer, var. of OF.
eschuer ESCHEW.
So adj. oblique, slanting. XVII. f. the vb. or
ASKEW. Also
skew-whiff adj. and adv. XVIII.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
skew
oxford
views updated May 23 2018skew. Anything that slopes or is set obliquely, e.g. top of a medieval
buttress or the
cope of a
gable.
A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture JAMES STEVENS CURL