• Skulllike

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    en + -skull + like

    Full definition of skulllike

    Adjective

    skulllike

    1. Like a skull.

    Usage notes

    Ordinarily, English does not allow the same letter to occur three times in a row. Accordingly, this term is usually written with a hyphen, as skull-like; at other times, one 'l' is dropped (resulting in skullike). As may be seen in the above quotations, however, some authors do write the term with the ⟨lll⟩ intact, and the Oxford English Dictionary does contain instances of other triple-letter words, including goddessship, frillless, and the county Rossshire. Other attested words which contain the same letter three times in a row include headmistressship and hostessship.

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