skewer

noun

1. A long pin, normally made of metal or wood, used to secure food during cooking.

   “Larissa, 107 miles from Salonica, is reached at 10.33, and there is a halt of 17 min. while vendors of oranges, cheese, meat on skewers, sweetmeats, and Turkish coffee do a brisk trade.”

2. Food served on a skewer.
3. A scenario in which a piece attacks a more valuable piece which, if it moves aside, exposes a less valuable piece.
4. (rare)That which skews something.

verb

1. To impale on a skewer.
2. To attack a piece which has a less valuable piece behind it.
3. (figuratively)To severely mock or discredit.

   “Parody, in its purest form, is an act of both mockery and appreciation. True masters of the practice possess a bone-deep understanding of their targets; they skewer because they love—or at least, because they’ve done their homework.”

   “A journalist outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday displaying one of the many tabloid covers skewering Mr. Johnson.”

   “As resident jester at the maverick journalism outlet The Free Press, Nellie Bowles scours the news for the absurd and hypocritical, and then skewers the best of the worst in her column, TGIF.”

adj

1. (comparative, form-of)comparative form of skew: more skew