Noun

(en noun)

An out-of-control sliding motion as would result from applying the brakes too hard in a car.

Just before hitting the guardrail the driver was able to regain control and pull out of the skid .

A shoe or clog, as of iron, attached to a chain, and placed under the wheel of a wagon to prevent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan.

(by extension) A hook attached to a chain, used for the same purpose.

A piece of timber or other material used as a support, or to receive pressure.

# A runner of a sled.

In the hours before daylight he sharpened the skids and tightened the lashings to prepare for the long dogsled journey.

# A ski-shaped runner or supporting surface as found on a helicopter or other aircraft in place of wheels.

Due to frequent arctic travel, the plane was equipped with long skids for snow and ice landings.

# A basic platform for the storage and transport of goods, machinery or equipment, later developed into the pallet.

He unloaded six skids of boxes from the truck.

# (nautical, in the plural) Large fenders hung over a vessel's side to protect it when handling cargo.

(Totten)

# One of a pair of horizontal rails or timbers for supporting anything, such as a boat or barrel.

Noun

(en noun)

A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}

The birds had built an amazing structure out of sticks and various discarded items.

The underlying shape of a solid.

He studied the structure of her face.

The overall form or organization of something.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03

, author= , title=Pixels or Perish , volume=100, issue=2, page=106 , magazine= citation , passage=Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure , astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.}}

The structure of a sentence.

The structure of the society was still a mystery.

A set of rules defining behaviour.

For some, the structure of school life was oppressive.

(computing)  Several pieces of data treated as a unit.

This structure contains both date and timezone information.

(fishing, uncountable)  Underwater terrain or objects (such as a dead tree or a submerged car) that tend to attract fish

There's lots of structure to be fished along the west shore of the lake; the impoundment submerged a town there when it was built.

A body, such as a political party, with a cohesive purpose or outlook.

The South African leader went off to consult with the structures .

(logic)  A set along with a collection of finitary functions and relations.