Standard Lemma guide

skelter

noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: S K EH1 L T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A gravity-based device used to store and rotate round food and drink in a first-in-first-out manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • After collecting them each day from the chicken coop, she put the eggs in her skelter until she needed them.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To run off helter-skelter; to hurry; to scurry.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Compare helter-skelter.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: eilen — hurry, scurry
  • German: hasten — hurry, scurry