SKIFFLE Definition & Meaning

skiffle

[ skif-uhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

skiffled, skiffling.

knob ( def 7 ).

skiffle

[ skif-uhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a jazz style of the 1920s deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, played by bands made up of both standard and improvised instruments.
a style of popular music developed in England during the 1950s, deriving from hillbilly music and rock-'n'-roll, and played on a heterogeneous group of instruments, as guitar, washboard, ceramic jug, washtub, and kazoo.

skiffle

/ ˈ��ɪ��ə�� /

noun

a style of popular music of the 1950s, played chiefly on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

skiffle

/ ˈ��ɪ��ə�� /

noun

dialect.
a drizzle
a skiffle of rain

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of skiffle¹

Perhaps akin to scabble

Origin of skiffle²

First recorded in 1920–25; origin uncertain

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of skiffle¹

C20: of unknown origin

Origin of skiffle²

from Scottish skiff, from skiff to move lightly, probably changed from skift, from Old Norse skipta shift

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Already playing the proto-rock of skiffle, Nash skipped school to score tickets to see Bill Haley & His Comets with Clarke, days after his 15th birthday.

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It soon became a favorite in the British folk-music scene and a radio hit; it even made it into the repertoire of Liverpool skiffle band, the Quarrymen, sung by a teenage John Lennon.

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Lennon's skiffle group The Quarrymen rehearsed at 25 Upton Green when he, Harrison and fellow member Paul McCartney were teenagers.

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As teenagers, they rehearsed with Lennon's skiffle group The Quarrymen, which included Paul McCartney, at Harrison's home.

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They became friendly with the young John Brierley, a musician himself, and later sat in with his local skiffle group The Vikings during a performance at the Queen's Hotel pub in the village.

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