skim
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
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.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
skim (third-person singular simple present skims, present participle skimming, simple past and past participle skimmed)
- (intransitive) To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
- 1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: Printed for W. Lewis […], published 1711, OCLC 15810849:
- Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.
- (transitive) To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
- 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table
- Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean.
- 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table
- To hasten along with superficial attention.
- 1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind
- They skim over a science in a very night superficial survey.
- 1741, Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind
- To put on a finishing coat of plaster.
- (transitive) to throw an object so it bounces on water (skimming stones)
- (intransitive) to ricochet
- (transitive) to read quickly, skipping some detail
- I skimmed the newspaper over breakfast.
- (transitive) to scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
- (transitive) 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 skim broth
- (transitive) 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.
- 2006, Herbert Snyder, Small Change, Big Problems (page 48)
- Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that a skimming fraud will occur.
- 2009, Tracy L. Coenen, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide (page 109)
- […] take this money without entering anything into the record-keeping system, thereby accomplishing a theft by skimming.
- 2006, Herbert Snyder, Small Change, Big Problems (page 48)
- To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
- (intransitive) To become coated over.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Adjective[edit]
skim (not comparable)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Noun[edit]
skim (countable and uncountable, plural skims)
- A cursory reading, skipping the details.
- 2012, John Friend, Allen Hickling, Planning Under Pressure (page xxii)
- 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.
- 2012, John Friend, Allen Hickling, Planning Under Pressure (page xxii)
- (informal) Skim milk.
- 2010, Gary G. Kindley, Growing Older Without Fear: The Nine Qualities of Successful Aging
- 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.
- 2010, Gary G. Kindley, Growing Older Without Fear: The Nine Qualities of Successful Aging
- The act of skimming.
- 1969, Newsweek (volume 74, page 75)
- Then you could jump 150 years and enjoy a skim across the Solent in Britain's remarkable Hovercraft.
- 1969, Newsweek (volume 74, page 75)
- That which is skimmed off.
- Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
- 1989, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse at Federally Funded Wastewater Treatment Construction Projects (volume 4)
- This potential is further increased by the ease of passing on the costs of corruption and racketeering to consumers; a skim of only one percent of a construction project can amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.
- 1989, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Subcommittee, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse at Federally Funded Wastewater Treatment Construction Projects (volume 4)
Afrikaans[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Dutch schim, from Middle Dutch schim, schem, from Old Dutch *skim, *skimo, from Proto-Germanic *skimaz, *skimô (“shine; light”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
skim (plural skimme)
Indonesian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
skim (plural, first-person possessive skimku, second-person possessive skimmu, third-person possessive skimnya)
Malay[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
skim (plural skim-skim, informal 1st possessive skimku, impolite 2nd possessive skimmu, 3rd possessive skimnya)
Alternative forms[edit]
- skema (Indonesia)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English informal terms
- en:Liquids
- en:Milk
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms with IPA pronunciation
- Afrikaans lemmas
- Afrikaans nouns
- Indonesian terms borrowed from English
- Indonesian terms derived from English
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian nouns
- Malay terms borrowed from English
- Malay terms derived from English
- Malay lemmas
- Malay nouns