skiffle

UK: /ˈskɪf^əl/ US: (skif′əl)

Inflections of 'skiffle' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

skiffles

v 3rd person singular

skiffling

v pres p

skiffled

v past

skiffled

v past p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

skif•fle¹  (skif′əl), v.t., -fled, -fling. 

1. knob (def. 7).

• perh. akin to scabble

skif•fle²  (skif′əl), n. 

1. Music and Dance a jazz style of the 1920s deriving from blues, ragtime, and folk music, played by bands made up of both standard and improvised instruments.
2. Music and Dance a style of popular music developed in England during the 1950s, deriving from hillbilly music and rock-'n'-roll, and played on a heterogeneous group of instruments, as guitar, washboard, ceramic jug, washtub, and kazoo.

• origin, originally uncertain 1920–25

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

skiffle / ˈskɪf^əl/ noun

1. a style of popular music of the 1950s, played chiefly on guitars and improvised percussion instruments

Etymology: 20th Century: of unknown origin