skim
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skim
- /skɪm/
Rhymes with -ɪm
Where it comes from
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.
verb skims · skimming · skimmed
- To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface. Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.
- To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of. Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean.
- To hasten along with superficial attention. They skim over a science in a very slight superficial survey.
- To put on a finishing coat of plaster. Ceilings are lined with fibrous asbestos, the internal plastering being reduced to skimming alone.
- To throw an object so it bounces on water. skimming stones
- To ricochet.
-
To read quickly or describe summarily, skipping some detail.
(through)
Similar: skip
- To scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
- To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying on it, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface. to skim milk
- To clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially the cream that floats on top of fresh milk. to skim cream
- To steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection. Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that a skimming fraud will occur.
- To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
- To become coated over.
adjective
- Having lowered fat content.
noun skims
- A cursory reading, skipping the details. For a first quick appreciation of the approach, we recommend a fast reading of Chapter 1, then a skim through the figures of the next two chapters — glancing at the definitions of key concepts that appear below the figures in Chapters 2 and 3.
- Skim milk. Two percent milk has only a fraction less fat than whole milk, so unless you are feeding a child or someone whose diet requires whole milk, skim is best.
- The act of skimming. Then you could jump 150 years and enjoy a skim across the Solent in Britain's remarkable Hovercraft.
- That which is skimmed off.
- Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection. It's a hustle, but it keeps me busy. I can take in three to three-fifty a week, more with skims.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: skim off, skitter, skip, run down, glance over, plane, rake, scan, cream off, cream, fatless, nonfat, fat-free, skim over, hydroplane, coulter
Translations
Every language
verb remove cream
| Español | desnatar |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | मलाई निकालना malāī nikālnā |
| Português | desnatar |
| Français | écrémer |
| Italiano | scremare, spannare |
| Русский | снима́ть snimátʹ |
verb to glide along near the surface as a seabird across the ocean
| Español | sobrevolar rozando |
|---|---|
| Français | dépasser doucement, effleurer, frôler, raser |
| Italiano | sfiorare, rasentare, lambire |
verb throw an object so it bounces on water
| Español | rebotar |
|---|---|
| Français | faire des ricochets |
| Deutsch | springen lassen, hüpfen lassen, flitschen, titschen, platteln |
| Русский | пуска́ть бли́нчики puskátʹ blínčiki |
verb ricochet
| Español | rebotar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 飛びはねる hibihaneru |
| Português | ricochetear |
| Français | ricocher |
| Deutsch | abprallen |
| Italiano | rimbalzare |
| Ελληνικά | εξοστρακίζομαι exostrakízomai |
| Română | ricoșa |
| Русский | рикошети́ровать rikošetírovatʹ, бить рикоше́том bitʹ rikošétom |
| العربية | يَرْتَ yarta |
verb read quickly, skipping some detail
| Español | hojear, leer por encima, trashojar, ojear |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 훑어보다 hulteoboda |
| 日本語 | ざっと読む zatto yomu, 読み飛ばす yomitobasu, 読み流す yominagasu |
| 中文 | 瀏覽 /浏览 liúlǎn |
| Português | ler superficialmente, ler em diagonal, ler na diagonal, ler ligeiramente |
| Français | feuilleter, lire en diagonale |
| Deutsch | überfliegen, querlesen |
| Italiano | scorrere |
| Română | a răsfoi |
| Русский | бе́гло прочи́тывать béglo pročítyvatʹ, проли́стывать prolístyvatʹ, листа́ть listátʹ |
| עברית | רפרף |
verb scrape off; remove (something) from a surface
| Español | desnatar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | abschöpfen, abstreichen |
| Italiano | schiumare, sgrassare |
adj having lowered fat content
| Español | descremado |
|---|---|
| Português | magro, desnatado |
| Français | écrémé |
| Italiano | scremato |
Talk about this word "skim." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/skim. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. skim. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/skim "skim." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/skim.Cite this
@misc{skim_2026,
title = {skim},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/skim},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
