skies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of sky.

   Clear blue skies stretched over the valley all afternoon.

   Sailors once learned to read the skies before setting out from harbor.

   Note

   A plural that rarely means more than one sky. The skies and the sky usually name the same expanse, and the plural adds breadth or mood. It anchors set phrases such as take to the skies, for rising into the air in a balloon or aircraft. In Richard Francis Burton's Os Lusíadas (1880), "so many changing skies" means the climates of the distant lands a voyage passes through.

2. 2
   SaySKEEZUS/skiz/UK/skiːz/

   verb

   Rare, nonstandard third-person singular simple present of ski. The usual form is skis.

   Note

   Here the verb is ski, not sky, and the form answers to two constructions. Without an object it simply means moving on skis, as in she skies every weekend. With an object it names the slope or the place, as in he skies the north face, meaning he travels over it on skis, often as a sport. Both readings share their spelling with the verb for sending a ball high.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of sky.

   The batter skies the ball deep into the outfield for an easy catch.

   She skies her clearance toward the far end of the pitch.

   Note

   A transitive form that always takes an object, as in skies the ball or skies the bar. The sports uses are the live ones: hitting or kicking a ball very high, or clearing a hurdle with room to spare. Skying a drink, pouring it in without your lips touching the container, is informal. Hanging a picture high on a gallery wall is dated. The same spelling also serves the skiing verb, so context decides.

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