squint (skwint)

and n. [Not found in ME., except as in asquint, askew; appar. an extension of the obs. or dial. squin, squean, sken, prob. connected with D. schuinen, slant, slope, schuin, slant, sloping; perhaps a ociated with E. dial. squink, wink, partly a var. of wink, partly Some things that are not heard He mutters to himselfe, and his squint eye Casts towards the Moone, as should his wits there lye. Heywood, Dialogues (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, VI. 190). 2. That looks or is directed obliquely; look to scrape (the wet decks of a ship) with a squilgee. The washing, swabbing, squilgeeing , etc., lasts, or is made to last, until eight o'clock, when breakfast is ordered, fore and aft. R. H. Dana, Jr. , Before the Mast, p. 100.