English Explanatory Dictionary

skim

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
  2. To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
  3. To hasten along with superficial attention.
  4. To put on a finishing coat of plaster.
  5. To throw an object so it bounces on water.
  6. To ricochet.
  7. To read quickly or describe summarily, skipping some detail.
  8. To scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
  9. To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying on it, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface.
  10. To clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially the cream that floats on top of fresh milk.
  11. To steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
  12. To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
adj
  1. Having lowered fat content.
noun
  1. A cursory reading, skipping the details.
  2. Skim milk.
  3. The act of skimming.
  4. That which is skimmed off.
  5. Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.

Pronunciation

/skɪm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-skim.wav

Word forms

skim skims skimming skimmed

Etymology

From Middle English skemen, skymen, variants of scumen, from Old French escumer (“to remove scum”), from escume (“froth, foam”), from Frankish *skūm (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Germanic *skūmaz (“foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *skew- (“to cover, conceal”). See scum.

Synonyms

skip

Derived words

cream-skim overskim reskim semi-skimmed skimboard skimboarding skimmability skimmable skimmed milk skimmer skimmy skim off skim over skim-read skim through skim milk skim coat skim-coat skim pit

Translations

Bulgarian: обирам каймака Catalan: desnatar Dutch: afromen Finnish: kuoria Finnish: kaapia French: écrémer Galician: estonar Hindi: मलाई निकालना Italian: scremare Italian: spannare Norman: êcrémer Portuguese: desnatar Russian: снима́ть Spanish: desnatar Swedish: skumma Walloon: scramer
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