helter-skelter
Confusion or turmoilConfusion or turmoil.
Meaning
2 senses(countable, uncountable)Confusion or turmoil.
(UK, countable, uncountable)An amusement ride consisting of a slide that spirals down around the exterior of a tapering central tower, most commonly modeled after lighthouses.
спіра́льна гі́ркаspirálʹna hírka
Translations
1 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/In form a reduplication (similar to hurry-scurry and harum-scarum, both with initial /h-/ and /sk-/); perhaps based on Middle English skelten ("to hasten; to raise an alarm"), or maybe related to Old High German skeltan (“scold”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“make noise, yell”), employed as a fossil word.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: helter-skelters| Singular | helter-skelter |
|---|---|
| Plural | helter-skelters |
regular
Synonyms
1 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.