Library / English Dictionary

SKY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("sky" is a kind of...):

atmosphere (the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body)

Meronyms (parts of "sky"):

cloud (a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude)

rainbow (an arc of colored light in the sky caused by refraction of the sun's rays by rain)

Part meronym:

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sky"):

blue; blue air; blue sky; wild blue yonder (the sky as viewed during daylight)

mackerel sky (a sky filled with rows of cirrocumulus or small altocumulus clouds)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Throw or toss with a light motion

Example:

toss me newspaper

Synonyms:

flip; pitch; sky; toss

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "sky" is one way to...):

fling (throw with force or recklessness)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sky"):

submarine (throw with an underhand motion)

lag (throw or pitch at a mark, as with coins)

throw back; toss back (throw back with a quick, light motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

The children sky the ball

Credits

 Context examples: 

No wind, and not a cloud in the sky.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Mature B cell, lymphoblastic, starry sky effect

(Classic Burkitt Lymphoma of the Mouse Hematologic System, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

They then measured the clustering of the galaxies containing both hidden and exposed black holes — the degree to which the objects clump together across the sky.

(NASA's WISE findings poke hole in black hole 'Doughnut' theory, NASA)

The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The Brabanter raised his weapon to the sky, and there came the short, deep twang of his powerful string.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The morning was rather favourable, though it had rained all night, as the clouds were then dispersing across the sky, and the sun frequently appeared.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The court was very cool and a little damp, and full of premature twilight, although the sky, high up overhead, was still bright with sunset.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The twilight had closed in and the moon was shining brightly in the sky before my narrative was finished.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was like strong drink, firing him to audacities of feeling,—a drug that laid hold of his imagination and went cloud-soaring through the sky.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)