Definitions For Skell

Etymology 1

Perhaps from skeleton, describing the often skeletal appearance of drug users. Alternatively, from skellum or skelder ("to beg in the streets"). Used by {{w, Ben Jonson}}, 1599. In the sense of a suspicious person, popularized by the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.

Alternative forms

skel

Noun

SKELL (plural SKELLs) (slang, US, New York) a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the new york subway. : Did you see those two skells lying in the doorway? (slang, US, New York, police jargon) A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler.

Synonyms

See also thesaurus:vagabond

References

The City in Slang, New York Life and Popular Speech, by Irving Lewis Allen, 1993. Dictionary of American Regional English, by Joan Houston Hall, 2002

Etymology 2

Verb

skell (slang, intransitive) To fall off or fall over. : She went skelling over on the ice.

Anagrams

Kells, kells