from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Skid \Skid\ (sk[i^]d), n. [Icel. sk[imac][eth] a billet of wood.
See {Shide}.] [Written also {skeed}.]
1. 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; also, by
extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the
same purpose.
[1913 Webster]
2. A piece of timber used as a support, or to receive
pressure. Specifically:
(a) pl. (Naut.) Large fenders hung over a vessel's side to
protect it in handling a cargo. --Totten.
(b) One of a pair of timbers or bars, usually arranged so
as to form an inclined plane, as form a wagon to a
door, along which anything is moved by sliding or
rolling.
(c) One of a pair of horizontal rails or timbers for
supporting anything, as a boat, a barrel, etc.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Aeronautics) A runner (one or two) under some flying
machines, used for landing.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
4. A low movable platform for supporting heavy items to be
transported, typically of two layers, and having a space
between the layers into which the fork of a fork lift can
be inserted; it is used to conveniently transport heavy
objects by means of a fork lift; -- a skid without wheels
is the same as a {pallet}.
[PJC]
5. pl. Declining fortunes; a movement toward defeat or
downfall; -- used mostly in the phrase
{on the skids} and
{hit the skids}.
[PJC]
6. [From the v.] Act of skidding; -- called also {side slip}.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]