Meaning & use
skewer
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Meanings
nouncountable
A long, thin metal or wooden rod pushed through pieces of food to hold them together while cooking.
Grammar: Countable: one skewer, a pack of skewers.
Patterns
- kebab skewer
- wooden skewer
- thread food onto a skewer
Thread the peppers and onions onto a skewer before grilling.
Soak wooden skewers in water so they do not burn.
verbtransitive
To fasten or pierce food or another object with a skewer or a similar pointed item.
Grammar: Takes an object; often followed by with or on: skewer the meat with rosemary stems.
Patterns
- skewer meat on a skewer
- skewer something with something
She skewered the chicken pieces on metal rods.
The child skewered a marshmallow on a stick and held it over the fire.
verbtransitivefigurative
To criticize a person, idea, or work harshly and effectively, often with wit.
Grammar: Takes an object; this figurative sense often appears in talk about reviews, comedy, and journalism.
Patterns
- skewer someone
- skewer an argument
- skewer a policy
The satirical show skewered politicians on every side.
The article skewers the industry's promises as empty marketing.
Word forms
| third person singular | skews |
|---|---|
| past tense | skewed |
| past participle | skewed |
| -ing form | skewing |
Common combinations
- bamboo skewer
- Use a bamboo skewer to test whether the cake is baked through.
- skewer the meat
- Marinate the lamb overnight before you skewer the meat.
- skewer an opponent's argument
- In the debate, she skillfully skewered her opponent's argument.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spit
- A spit is a longer rod turned over a fire for roasting whole pieces of meat, not small chunks like those on a skewer.
- roast
- Informal; means to mock or criticize humorously, very close to the figurative sense of skewer.
- lambaste
- Means to criticize harshly but without the witty, piercing precision that skewer suggests.
Opposites
Commonly confused: skewer or skew?
skewer vs skew
To skew means to twist, slant, or make data unrepresentative; it lacks both the cooking rod and the sharp criticism meanings of skewer.
Practice
The review ___ the film for its lazy script and wooden acting.
Choose one answer.
Skewer can mean to criticize sharply and effectively, which matches a harsh review; shelter means protect, shatter means break, and shun means deliberately avoid, none of which describe criticizing a film.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skewer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.