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Kell vs Skell - What's the difference?

kell | skell |

As nouns the difference between kell and skell

is that kell is the caul while skell is a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.

As a verb skell is

to fall off or fall over.

kell

English

Etymology 1

Compare caul.

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) The caul.
  • (obsolete, figurative) That which covers or envelops, like a caul; a net; a fold; a film.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • I'll have him cut to the kell .
  • (obsolete) The cocoon or chrysalis of an insect.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A kiln.
  • Etymology 3

    A modification of kale.

    Noun

    (-)
  • A sort of pottage; kale.
  • (Ainsworth)
    (Webster 1913) ----

    skell

    English

    Alternative forms

    *skel

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (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) (informal police jargon) A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler. (Compare scumbag.) Popularized on the American TV police drama NYPD Blue .
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

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

    References

    *The City in Slang, New York Life and Popular Speech , by Irving Lewis Allen, 1993.[http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/faq.html
  • skel]
  • *Dictionary of American Regional English , by Joan Houston Hall, 2002[http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/DYSADARE.html]