Skew has multiple meanings depending on the context. Here are some of the definitions:
- Verb: To take an oblique course or to look askance.
- Transitive verb: To make, set, or cut obliquely or to distort, especially from a true value or symmetrical form.
- Adjective: Having an oblique direction or position; slanting. In statistics, a distribution can have right (or positive), left (or negative), or zero skewness, which is a measure of the asymmetry of the distribution.
- Noun: An oblique movement, direction, or position. In geometry, skew lines are a pair of lines that do not intersect and are not parallel to each other. They can only exist in dimensions higher than 2D space and have to be non-coplanar, meaning that such lines exist in different planes.
In summary, the meaning of "skew" depends on the context in which it is used. It can refer to an oblique course or direction, a distortion from a true value or symmetrical form, a slanting position, or a pair of lines that do not intersect and are not parallel to each other.