ski
n. · v.-
1 equipment for snow or water (n.) A2 Elementary Sportone of a pair of long, narrow pieces of wood, metal, or plastic used for sliding over snow or water.
a long, narrow runner of wood, plastic, or metal, often curved upward at the tip, used in pairs for gliding over snow or water.
ExampleHe waxed his skis before heading out to the mountain for the day.
ExampleModern skis are engineered with complex composite materials to provide both flexibility and edge control on icy slopes.
-
2 aircraft landing gear (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Scienceone of the flat runners under a plane or helicopter used for landing on snow or ice.
a runner attached to the landing gear of an aircraft to facilitate take-off and landing on snow-covered surfaces.
ExampleThe small plane was fitted with skis so it could land on the frozen lake.
ExampleThe bush pilot inspected the hydraulic lines of the retractable skis before departing for the remote Arctic research station.
- landing runner
-
3 to move on skis (v.) A2 Elementary Sportto move over snow or water using skis, usually as a hobby or sport.
to travel over a surface, typically snow or water, using skis; functions as both a transitive and intransitive verb.
ExampleWe plan to ski in the Alps during our winter holiday.
ExampleProfessional athletes often ski several hours a day to maintain the leg strength required for competitive downhill racing.
PitfallI am going to skiing this weekend.I am going skiing this weekend.When using 'go' with sports ending in -ing, do not use 'to'.
From Norwegian ski, from Old Norse skíð (“stick of wood, snowshoe”), from Proto-Germanic skīdą (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European skey- (“to cut, split”) (see also shed). Cognate with Old English sċīd (“stick of wood”) (modern shide), Old High German skit (Modern German Scheit (“log”)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated June 19, 2026