skid row
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skid row¹
- /ˌskɪd ˈɹəʊ/ UK
- /ˌskɪd ˈɹoʊ/ US
Rhymes with -əʊ
Where it comes from
An alteration of skid road (“road along which logs are dragged or skidded; (Canada, US, informal) downtown streets where loggers go for recreation on their time off”). In 1852, skid road was first applied to a slum area at the loggers’ part of town in Seattle, Washington, USA, and before 1900 it had come into common usage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Over time, the variant skid row came to refer to a district or slum frequented by alcoholics and hobos, even in areas without a lumber industry.
noun skid rows · skidrow · Skid Row
- An especially dilapidated section of a city, characterized by abandoned or run-down buildings and vices such as drug dealing and prostitution, and frequented by homeless people. Ooh! Lucky losers, lucky losers landing on skid row / While the Diamond Jims and the Kings Road pimps / Breathe heavy in their brand new clothes
- A situation of great desperation or misfortune.
Skid Row²
noun Skid Rows
- Alternative letter-case form of skid row
proper noun
- A neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, United States.
- A neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States.
- A neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, also called the Gateway District
- A neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States, also called the Bowery
- A neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States, also called Old Town-Chinatown
- A neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States.
- A neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada called the DTES, commonly referred to as East Hastings.
Translations
Every language
noun especially dilapidated section of a city
| Español | barrios bajos |
|---|---|
| Français | ghetto, bidonville |
| Deutsch | Armenviertel, heruntergekommenes Viertel |
Talk about this word "skid row." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/skid%20row. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. skid row. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/skid%20row "skid row." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/skid%20row.Cite this
@misc{skid_row_2026,
title = {skid row},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/skid%20row},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
