skid

be on the skids

To be in jeopardy and likely to end or fail. Of course their relationship is on the skids, they fight all the time! Our project is on the skids because the committee pulled their funding.
See also: on, skid

grease the skids

To work to prepare something for success. You've done everything you could to grease the skids—now, it's time to open your online store and hope for the best.
See also: grease, skid

hit the skids

To experience a period of trouble or decline. The team started the season so well, but they've really hit the skids recently. I think Marissa and I are going to break up soon—we've hit the skids.
See also: hit, skid

on skid row

In utter poverty or squalid circumstances. It's amazing that, after nearly five years on skid row, he's now one of the biggest names in show business.
See also: on, row, skid

on the skids

Experiencing a period of trouble, difficulty or decline. The team started the season so well, but they've been on the skids for the last few games. Marissa and I are really on the skids lately—I think a breakup is inevitable at this point.
See also: on, skid

put the skids on (something)

To cause something to halt, cease, or fail. His criminal record has so far put the skids on every job he's applied for. The CEO quickly put the skids on the proposal for better employee benefits.
See also: on, put, skid

put the skids under (someone or something)

To cause the ruin, failure, or defeat of someone or something. Her frequent absences from work put the skids under any hopes she had of a promotion. The boss accused Theresa of trying to put the skids under him.
See also: put, skid

skid across (something)

1. To slide, slip, or skim along the surface of something. I fell while I was wakeboarding and skidded 30 feet across the water. A huge truck smashed into the car and sent it skidding across the interstate.
2. To cause someone or something to slide, slip, or skim along the surface of something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "skid" and "across." The shuffleboard player skidded the disk across the court in an attempt to knock his opponent's disk out of the scoring area. The mechanical bull flung me off and skidded me across the barroom floor.
See also: across, skid

skid into (someone or something)

1. To collide with someone or something after sliding, slipping, or skimming along some surface. I hit the brakes as hard as I could, but I could stop the car from skidding into the driver in front of me. A crate fell out of the back of the van and skidded into a woman on the sidewalk.
2. To cause someone or something to collide with someone or something else after sliding, slipping, or skimming along some surface. The shuffleboard player skidded his disk into his opponent's in an attempt to knock it out of the scoring area. The force of the impact skidded me into the people watching in the front row of the court.
3. To enter into some place or area after sliding, slipping, or skimming along some surface. The collision caused the bus to turn over on its side and skid into the intersection. I lost my balance as I turned on my bike and skidded into a drainage ditch beside the sidewalk.
4. To cause someone or something to enter into some place or area after sliding, slipping, or skimming along some surface. The shuffleboard player skidded his disk into his opponent's in an attempt to knock it out of the scoring area.
See also: skid

skid lid

A padded used to protect the head of someone riding a bicycle, motorcycle, or other similar means of transportation. I wound up with a broken arm and some bruised ribs, but thank God I was wearing my skid lid, or it could have been a lot worse! Look at that guy! Zipping through red lights, weaving in and out of traffic, and not even wearing a skid lid!
See also: lid, skid

skid mark

slang A mark or streak of feces on the inside of one's underpants. You can wash the skid marks out of your own underwear, thank you very much. Stop scratching your butt like that. You're going to end up with a skid mark!
See also: mark, skid

skid row

1. A squalid area of poverty and destitution, typically inhabited by those suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction. When they hosted the Olympics, the city was criticized for rounding up the homeless and keeping them all contained on skid row.
2. A life marked by poverty and squalid circumstances. It's amazing that, after nearly five years on skid row, he's now one of the biggest names in show business.
See also: row, skid

skid-row bum

A person reduced to abject poverty and squalid living conditions, especially an alcoholic or drug addict. He used to run one of the most successful companies in the city, but then the market crashed and he wound up as a skid-row bum. I have to walk by a couple skid-row bums on my way to work who always beg for my spare change.
See also: bum

the skids

1. The framework that is attached to the side of a ship when loading or unloading cargo. The last of the boxes are on the skids now.
2. slang A period of trouble or decline. The team started the season so well, but they've really hit the skids now. I think Marissa and I are going to break-up soon, we're on the skids.
See also: skid
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

grease the skids

Fig. to help prepare for or ease the way for the success or failure of someone or something. Ray set out to grease the skids for the right things to happen. We need someone to grease the skids for the Wilson contract.
See also: grease, skid

hit the skids

Fig. to decline; to decrease in value or status. Jed hit the skids when he started drinking. The firm hit the skids when the dollar collapsed.
See also: hit, skid

on the skids

Sl. on the decline. My newly started business is on the skids. Her health is really on the skids, but she stays cheery anyway.
See also: on, skid

put the skids on (something)

Sl. to cause something to fail. They put the skids on the project when they refused to give us any more money. That's the end of our great idea! Somebody put the skids on.
See also: on, put, skid

put the skids under someone or something

Sl. to cause someone or something to fail. Her lateness put the skids under our presentation to the board of directors. He thought he could get promoted if he put the skids under the vice president.
See also: put, skid

skid across something

to slip or glide across something, such as ice or wet pavement. The car skidded across the pavement and crashed into a tree. Our bus skidded across the icy bridge and ran into a ditch on the other side.
See also: across, skid

skid into someone or something

to slip or glide into someone or something. The bicycle skidded into a pedestrian. The car skidded into a guard rail.
See also: skid
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

on the skids

In the process of decline or ruin, as in If she quit now, her career would be on the skids. The skids here are runners such as those on a sled, enabling one to go downhill quickly. [c. 1920]
See also: on, skid

put the skids on

Bring to a halt, as in The school committee put the skids on the idea of a dress code. The word skid here probably refers to a shoe or drag that applies pressure to the wheel of a vehicle to prevent it from moving.
See also: on, put, skid

put the skids under

Bring about the failure or defeat of, as in It was lack of funds that put the skids under the new senior center. The skids here are runners or rollers on which a heavy object may be moved. [Colloquial; early 1900s]
See also: put, skid

skid row

A squalid district inhabited by derelicts and vagrants; also, a life of impoverished dissipation. For example, That part of town is our skid row, or His drinking was getting so bad we thought he was headed for skid row. This expression originated in the lumber industry, where it signified a road or track made of logs laid crosswise over which logs were slid. Around 1900 the name Skid Road was used for the part of a town frequented by loggers, which had many bars and brothels, and by the 1930s the variant skid row, with its current meaning, came into use.
See also: row, skid
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

on skid row

mainly AMERICAN, INFORMAL
Skid row is a poor part of a city where many people who are homeless and alcoholic live. He worked for twenty years catching drug dealers on the city's skid row. Note: You say that someone is on skid row when they have lost all their money and possessions. A drug addict who lived on skid row, she fit the profile of the other missing women.
See also: on, row, skid

on the skids

INFORMAL
COMMON If something is on the skids, it is experiencing many problems and will probably fail. My marriage was on the skids. It took Donny some time to realise his career was on the skids.
See also: on, skid

put the skids under something

BRITISH, INFORMAL
If a person or thing puts the skids under something or someone, they cause them to experience many problems or fail. It was a sudden increase in the oil price which first put the skids under the world economy. The Brazilian striker's fifth-minute goal helped put the skids under Manchester United in their quarter-final in Munich last month.
See also: put, skid, something
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

hit the skids

begin a rapid decline or deterioration. informal
The origin of skid is uncertain, but it may be connected with the Old Norse word from which English ski is derived. It is used here and in the next two entries in the sense of a plank or roller on which a heavy object may be placed in order to move it easily.
See also: hit, skid

on the skids

(of a person or their career) in a bad state; failing. informal
1989 Thomas Berger The Changing Past Jackie arrived at middle age with a career on the skids.
See also: on, skid

put the skids under

hasten the decline or failure of. informal
See also: put, skid
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

hit the ˈskids

(especially American English) begin to decline or get worse very quickly: In February shares hit the skids, and in one day $1 bn was wiped off the value of the company.
See also: hit, skid

(on) skid ˈrow

(informal, especially American English) people who are on skid row live in a very poor part of town where there are many social problems: When he went bankrupt he lost everything, and ended up living on skid row for a few years. OPPOSITE: on easy streetThis expression came from the phrase skid road, referring to the poor part of towns where loggers (= people who cut down trees or cut and transported wood) lived. Originally a skid road was a road made of large pieces of wood, used for moving logs to the mill.
See also: row, skid

on the ˈskids

(informal) moving towards disaster; declining: It was clear months ago that the firm was on the skids. OPPOSITE: fly high
See also: on, skid

put the ˈskids under somebody/something

(informal) make somebody/something fail; stop somebody/something doing something: Unfortunately the government has put the skids under the hospital building programme.
See also: put, skid, somebody, something
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

grease the skids

tv. to help prepare for the success or failure of someone or something. (see also put the skids under someone/something.) Ray set out to grease the skids for the right things to happen.
See also: grease, skid

hit the skids

tv. to decline; to decrease in value or status; to go downhill (figuratively). Jed hit the skids when he started drinking.
See also: hit, skid

on the skids

mod. on the decline. (see also put the skids under someone/something.) Her health is really on the skids, but she stays cheery anyway.
See also: on, skid

put the skids under someone/something

tv. to cause someone or something to fail. (see also on the skids.) The mayor put the skids under my plan.
See also: put, skid, someone, something

skid marks

n. unclean, brownish marks on one’s underpants. Just looking at him, you know he’s the type who has skid marks and enjoys popping zits.
See also: mark, skid

skid row

n. the name for a place populated with ruined alcoholics and other down-and-out people. Just because they’re on skid row, it doesn’t mean they’re beyond help.
See also: row, skid

skid row bum

n. a down-and-out person; a low alcoholic beggar. Do you want to end up a skid row bum?
See also: bum, row, skid

skid-lid

n. a motorcycle helmet. The law has no business telling me I gotta wear a skid-lid.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

put the skids on

Slang
To bring to a halt: "Sacrificing free speech to put the skids on prurient printed matter is not the correct path, the courts said" (Curtis J. Sitomer).
See also: on, put, skid
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

skid row, on

Destitute, down-and-out. The term comes from the American lumber industry, where it first signified a skidway down which felled logs were slid. In time the part of a town frequented by loggers, which abounded in taverns and brothels, was called Skid Road. In the mid-twentieth century it again became “skid row” and was applied to any area of cheap barrooms and rundown hotels frequented by vagrants and alcoholics.
See also: on, skid
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • be on the skids
  • put the skids on
  • put the skids on (something)
  • grease the skids
  • on the skids
  • hit the skids
  • the skids
  • put the skids under
  • put the skids under (someone or something)
  • put the skids under someone/something
References in periodicals archive
Disconnecting them, moving the equipment, and then reconnecting them can cause system errors, alarms, and confusion about how to handle the "missing old inputs" as well as the "new inputs." How the skid is accessed, whether through a local panel or through a system workstation, also can be affected.
Modular Strategies Are key for Building Flexible Manufacturing: By focusing on a modular manufacturing strategy, organizations position themselves well for successful present and future operations
For the end that would go to the skid steer's hydraulics, he attached a coupling, which is hollow and threaded all the way through, that allows you to go from a half-inch pipe thread to an 8 JIC.
Outsmarting a Deere
A medium-size skid steer costs about $200 to rent for one day (not including the trailer or delivery fees), or about $600 per week.
Skid steer basics
"Quite simply, it's the driver that causes the skid."
Skids can; MAGGIE BARRY gets some expert tuition on how to get out of trouble should you find yourself losing control of your car
Controllability and ease of use are part of the package on the new R Series skid loaders.
Gehl expands its R Series skid loaders
(2006) indicated that variations in skid resistance from day to day, seemingly due to rainfall patterns and local weather conditions, are superimposed on an annual cycle.
Field investigation of factors affecting skid resistance variations in asphalt pavements/Veiksniu, daranciu itaka asfaltiniu dangu atsparumo slydimui pokyciams, naturinis tyrimas/Asfalta segu sakeres izmainu ietekmejoso faktoru eksperimentala izpete/Asfaltkatete haardeteguri muutumist mojutavate tegurite uuring
The aim of this research is study of skid trails density in Neka forest, Mazandaran province in Hyrcanian forest (north of Iran)
Study of skid trails density in hyrcanian forest (Case Study: Neka Forest, Mazandaran Province)
Shock isolator skids do not adequately support a stack of two or more assemblies.
Safe handling and storage of MLRS family of munitions
The station includes the company's Process Skid 00, a compact skid suited for small-scale GMP biophar-maceutical manufacturing.
Station saves cleanroom space and time
I'm not talking about a forklift attachment for your compact tractor; I'm talking about those delightfully maneuverable, supercompact skid loaders that seem to be popping up just about everywhere.
Skid loaders: nimble, compact and versatile: these machines are great for moving dirt and hay bales, grading your driveway, working in tight spaces, and more!
Wait, I thought a skid was when there was too much yaw for the bank angle.
Slip-sliding away
The skid-steer loader (often called a skid loader) is really the ultimate heavy-duty compact loader.
Skid-steer loaders: you know you want one: the compact machines are good for more than moving dirt
Designed to handle any type of pallet or skid, they are available in two basic configurations.
Stackers
One second, the car is moving along fine, then suddenly the driver hits a patch of ice and the car begins to skid out of control.
Students learn how to drive skidding car