skyscraper
pronunciation
How to pronounce skyscraper in British English:
UK [ˈskaɪskreɪpə(r)]
How to pronounce skyscraper in American English:
US [ˈskaɪskreɪpər]
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- Noun:
- a very tall building with many stories
Word Origin
- skyscraper (n.)
- very tall urban building, 1888, in a Chicago context, from sky (n.) + agent noun of scrape (v.). Used earlier for "ornament atop a building" (1883), "very tall man" (1857), "high-flying bird" (1840), "light sail at the top of a mast" (1794), and the name of a racehorse (1789). Compare cognate French gratte-ciel, from gratter "to scrape" + ciel "sky;" German Wolkenkratzer, from Wolke "cloud" + Kratzer "scraper." cloud-cleaver, an imaginary sail jokingly assumed to be carried by Yankee ships. [W. Clark Russell, "Sailors' Word Book," 1883]
Example
- 1. Could a penny dropped off a skyscraper actually kill you ?
- 2. This coin-shaped building is the world 's first circular skyscraper .
- 3. This is not easily done from a skyscraper in manhattan .
- 4. View of a skyscraper obstructed by sand and dust in riyadh .
- 5. He wants to build a skyscraper called the dynamic tower in dubai .