skell

Meanings

1. a homeless person, especially one who sleeps in the New York subway.
2. A male suspicious person or crime suspect, especially a street person such as a drug dealer, pimp or panhandler.

1. To fall off or fall over.

Etymology

* Perhaps from skeleton, describing the often skeletal appearance of drug users. * Alternatively, from skellum or skelder ("to beg in the streets"). Used by Ben Jonson, 1599. * In the sense of a suspicious person, popularized by the American TV police drama NYPD Blue.