skirting board
1
4.8
- noun
- /ˈskɜːrtɪŋ bɔːrd/
- UK
:
zócalo
- And oh, down here, there's the the skirting board ready to go in all of some computers down there as well and a shadow of me.
So what we're going to do is in this instance, I think we're going to pretend that the cable's coming along the skirting board.
- So what we're going to do is in this instance, I think we're going to pretend that the cable's coming along the skirting board.
Examples
-
She painted the walls and cleaned the skirting board to give the room a fresh look.
-
The photo of our father has fallen off the wall, but his frame leans against the skirting board, determined.
Fiction book (1998) -
The morning after, Girl cleaned the skirting boards and Billy swept the kitchen floor.
Academic text (2007) -
For example, storage areas, equipment, machinery, and surroundings will all need cleaning, but specific checklists will help to ensure that all areas are captured (window sills, skirting boards, lights, under the stairs, meeting rooms, windows, and so on).
Academic text (2015) -
The old skirting board needed to be replaced after years of wear and tear.
-
He noticed the dust had settled on the skirting board after a week without cleaning.
Synonyms
11
3.4
A narrow board along the bottom of an inside wall where it meets the floor
1
4.5
A strip of material along the bottom of a wall where it meets the floor
A strip of wood or plastic along the bottom of a wall that protects it from dirt and knocks
How Decorative
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a narrow board fixed to the bottom of a wall' is directly and transparently derived from 'skirting' (a strip at the wall base) + 'board' (a flat piece of material); the compound plainly denotes a board used for skirting. This is a regular noun+noun composition (non-idiomatic) and a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Skirting board may come from the word skirt, a word for something that 'covers' the lower 'edge', and board, a flat piece of wood. So it gives a clear image: a board that 'skirts' the wall by running along the bottom to 'cover' the join between wall and floor, and that is why it means the low board at the base of a wall.