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Meaning of sky in English:

sky

Pronunciation /skʌɪ/

See synonyms for sky

Translate sky into Spanish

nounskies

often the sky

  • 1The region of the atmosphere and outer space seen from the earth.

    ‘hundreds of stars were shining in the sky’
    • ‘Dorcas had never seen so much sky’
    • ‘Now, the sun floated high above them in a clear, cloudless blue sky.’
    • ‘What was once an empty backdrop of a starry sky was filled with a bright, silvery object.’
    • ‘You can see the pyramid, you can see the dark, gray skies.’
    • ‘Flat, gray clouds filled the darkening sky above her as the town prepared for yet another rainfall.’
    • ‘The air was polluted with cloudy gray skies.’
    • ‘Ereana thought about this as stars began to dot the darkening sky.’
    • ‘He opened his eyes and scanned the cloudy skies.’
    • ‘She crossed her arms under her head and leaned back then, watching the sky darken slowly.’
    • ‘Then dozens of multi-coloured balloons were released into the sunny evening sky.’
    • ‘Ajit woke up sweating and looked out of his window into the starless, black midnight sky.’
    • ‘His cold gaze focused on the starless sky outside the small stone window.’
    • ‘I stare out at the inky black, star-studded midnight sky sometime after I'd left Mother.’
    • ‘The midnight blue of the nighttime sky grew suddenly darker.’
    • ‘The moon shown as brightly as white silk in the midnight sky above his head.’
    • ‘They both lay there, looking at the early morning sky through the window of the tour bus.’
    • ‘Today her dress was the pure color of a summer sky on a clear day.’
    • ‘I was outside, under the most brilliant azure sky that I had ever witnessed.’
    • ‘Max just rolled his eyes and stared back up at the starlit sky.’
    • ‘The very end of the symphony is like a radiant summer sky at sunset.’
    • ‘Asteroids of that size, however, are exceedingly difficult to observe in the twilight sky with ground-based telescopes.’
    the atmosphere, the stratosphere, the skies, airspace
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1literary Heaven; heavenly power.
      • ‘the just vengeance of incensed skies’

verbskies, skying, skied

[with object]

  • 1informal Hit (a ball) high into the air.

    • ‘he skied his tee shot’
    • ‘The visiting attack were bankrupt of ideas and resorted to skying balls in form distance.’
    • ‘He skied the ball so high that it probably cleared the stand, never mind the cross bar.’
    • ‘Hooper himself was the victim of the worst fielding error of the match when Cullinan skied the ball towards deep mid-wicket.’
    • ‘Somehow he managed to get underneath the ball and skied it.’
    • ‘The ball looped kindly over my head after Hopkins skied her attempt at reaching one of Mauresmo's serves.’
    • ‘Allen's swift 35 allowed McMahon to sky the final run and leave the Oxford side relieved after seeing the game almost slip away.’
    • ‘After a long delay while Prokas was treated, Murray stepped up to sky the spot-kick over the bar.’
    • ‘Mallan's 34 th-minute spot-kick was saved by Butter and the striker skied the rebound.’
    • ‘She skied two runs on the Thursday night before the race and said it was fine.’
    • ‘They saw that against Tampa Bay, when Rouen skied a punt to the 4-yard line and Bannister caught it before it hit the ground.’
    • ‘Dennis Hill then skied a one-on-one, which he lived to regret as Colne enjoyed more possession and earned four corners in quick succession.’
    1. 1.1Hang (a picture) very high on a wall, especially in an exhibition.
      • ‘a painter's worst fear was that his picture would be skied’

Phrases

    the sky is the limit
    informal

    • There is practically no limit (to something such as a price that can be charged or the opportunities afforded to someone)

      • ‘we can do anything—the sky's the limit’
      • ‘Once an individual has this frame of mind the sky is the limit for opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.’
      • ‘As far as bond prices are concerned the sky is the limit.’
      • ‘On the other hand, this does not mean that the sky is the limit as far as prices are concerned.’
      • ‘Really, for the tobacco firms, the sky is the limit.’
      • ‘Put him in a real racing car with proper infrastructure and the sky is the limit.’
      • ‘If these guys are this good at 18, and they stay together for longer than five minutes, then - to spout another cliché - the sky is the limit!’
      • ‘At only 41 years old, I think the sky is the limit for Pawlenty.’
      • ‘When it comes to pick-up games the sky is the limit.’
      • ‘‘I thought Bulgaria is a country that is getting its wheels off the ground and the sky is the limit,’ he said.’
      • ‘In the clubby confines of America's boardrooms, the sky is the limit.’
    under the open sky

    • Out of doors.

      ‘an ancient Greek theatre under the open sky’
      • ‘That's why they are living outside under the open sky.’
      • ‘Hawaii Big Island hosts open market places with hundreds of merchants selling their hand crafted items under the open sky.’
      • ‘Promptly after sunset, the pilgrims travel through the mountain pass of Muzdalifa, where they spend the night under the open sky.’
      • ‘"Truly it has been a joy to be outside under the open sky today," the bard said as their party rode out of the Lord Johen's forests.’
      • ‘People strolled through, into the cool courtyard under the open sky.’
      • ‘The knight felt free under the open sky, and let out a whoop of joy as he rode over the grassy, frost-glazed hill.’
      • ‘They had been there three days already, saving the inflated price of the hostels by sleeping out under the open sky on a concrete beach.’
      • ‘It was tiresome, traveling under the open sky, and she was looking forward to a good night's rest.’
      • ‘Citizens gather under the open sky on a Sunday in spring to pass laws and elect officials by a show of hands.’
      • ‘Should the weather have been warmer, we would have delighted in sleeping under the open sky lulled to sleep by the voice of nature.’
    to the skies

    • Very highly; enthusiastically.

      ‘he wrote to his sister praising Lizzie to the skies’
      • ‘This, after all, is the man who can praise public service workers to the skies and then, almost in the next breath, dismiss them as wreckers.’
      • ‘Both films were praised to the skies; and indeed, they are very accomplished.’
      • ‘We're going to write lots of articles praising him to the skies.’
      • ‘From the beginning Brookmyre seems to have been praised to the skies.’
      • ‘NATO as we know it is dead, and we have no idea what will follow - so we praise it to the skies.’
      • ‘This commission will be praised to the skies in the Human Rights Commission and laughed at in the families of New Zealand.’
      • ‘She hated them at times, and once she had praised their names to the skies for letting her live again.’
      • ‘Of course, it helped that the older man spent most of his time praising Ryan to the skies.’
      • ‘Everybody was praising young Michael to the skies, even though he missed a hat-trick in the first half!’
      • ‘Ishan has spent the good part of half an hour praising Matt to the skies.’

Origin

Middle English (also in the plural denoting clouds), from Old Norse ský ‘cloud’. The verb dates from the early 19th century.