Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To remove floating matter from (a liquid).
- intransitive verb To remove (floating matter) from a liquid.
- intransitive verb To embezzle (money) by taking a small portion on each transaction.
- intransitive verb To fail to declare part of (certain income, such as winnings) to avoid tax payment.
- intransitive verb To copy information from (a credit card) as part of a skimming fraud.
- intransitive verb To coat or cover with a thin layer.
- intransitive verb To throw so as to bounce or slide.
- intransitive verb To glide or pass quickly and lightly over or along (a surface). synonym: brush.
- intransitive verb To read or glance through (a book, for example) quickly or superficially.
- intransitive verb To glance over quickly; scan.
- intransitive verb To touch lightly or superficially on.
- intransitive verb To move or pass swiftly and lightly over or near a surface; glide.
- intransitive verb To fail to declare certain income to avoid tax payment.
- intransitive verb To give a quick and superficial reading, scrutiny, or consideration; glance.
- intransitive verb To become coated with a thin layer.
- noun The act of skimming.
- noun Something that has been skimmed.
- noun A thin layer or film.
- noun The money stolen by skimming from an account or business operation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act of skimming; also, that which is skimmed off.
- noun Thick matter that forms or collects on the surface of a liquor; scum.
- To lift the scum from; clear the surface of by removing any floating matter, by means of a spoon, a flat ladle, or the like: as, to
skim soup by removing the oil or fat; to skim milk by taking off the cream. - To lift from the surface of a liquid by a sliding movement, as with a puddle, a flat ladle, a spoon, or the like; dip up with or as with a skimmer, as cream from milk or fat from soup; hence, to clear away; remove.
- To clear; rid; free from obstacles or enemies.
- To mow.
- To cover with a film or scum; coat over.
- To pass lightly along or near the surface of; move smoothly and lightly over; glide, float, fly, or run over the surface of.
- To pass over lightly in perusal or inspection; glance over hastily or superficially.
- To cause to dart, skip, or ricochet along a surface; hurl along a surface in a smooth, straight course.
- To pass lightly and smoothly over a surface; hence, to glide or dart along in a smooth, even course.
- To pass in hasty inspection or consideration, as over the surface of something; observe or consider lightly or superficially.
- To become covered with a scum or film; be coated over.
- noun A cultivator blade for surface work, analogous to a sweep. See
scalp , 7, andsweep , 12 . - In plastering, to put the finishing coat or skim-coat on.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
- intransitive verb To hasten along with superficial attention.
- intransitive verb To put on the finishing coat of plaster.
- adjective Contraction of
skimming andskimmed . - adjective the final or finishing coat of plaster.
- adjective a colter for paring off the surface of land.
- adjective skimmed milk; milk from which the cream has been taken.
- transitive verb To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying thereon, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface
- transitive verb To take off by skimming.
- transitive verb To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
- transitive verb Fig.: To read or examine superficially and rapidly, in order to cull the principal facts or thoughts.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive to
throw an object so itbounces onwater (skimming stones)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word skim.
Examples
-
To achieve it, we had to learn how to 'skim' - that is, how to make selective readings from the enormous volume of data that arrives to our senses.
-
This isn’t to say that books aren’t worth your time — the whole reason I flip and skim is that book-reading is so vital.
-
My grandmother, a Depression-era Okie, called skim milk “blue john” and said it was only fit for “slopping hogs.”
Hard at work in Seattle | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. 2009
-
-- After a part or all of the cream has been removed from whole milk, that which remains is called skim milk.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 2: Milk, Butter and Cheese; Eggs; Vegetables
-
Winners are notified immediately. create a free MacUpdate Membership so you can buy this week's promo before it expires or post your reactions about this week's promo. mrglsmrc said today at 12: 14am preview does alot with pdf these days in leopard. i generally use the free app called skim to make marginal notes in pdf. when i want to create a pdf i generally use my word processor, nisus pro, and print to pdf. mrglsmrc said today at 12: 34am
MacUpdate - Mac OS X 2008
-
Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service allege the servers were working for a larger fraud ring and were using electronic devices to "skim" the credit card numbers of customers they served at the restaurant.
District food servers charged in theft of patrons' credit card numbers 2010
-
Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service allege the servers were working for a larger fraud ring and were using electronic devices to "skim" the credit card numbers of those they served at the restaurant.
Three restaurant workers skimmed $117,000 from patrons' credit cards, authorities say 2010
-
While I highly recommend it, this is not the sort of reading that you can profitably "skim".
Archive 2008-05-01 2008
-
Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service allege the servers were working for a larger fraud ring and were using electronic devices to "skim" the credit card numbers of customers they served at the restaurant.
District food servers charged in theft of patrons' credit card numbers 2010
-
Investigators with the U.S. Secret Service allege the servers were working for a larger fraud ring and were using electronic devices to "skim" the credit card numbers of those they served at the restaurant.
Three restaurant workers skimmed $117,000 from patrons' credit cards, authorities say 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.