skim

English

Etymology

From Middle English skimmen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skɪm/
• Rhymes: -ɪm

Verb

skim (third-person singular simple present skims, present participle skimming, simple past and past participle skimmed)

1. (intransitive) To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
   • Alexander Pope

     Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.

2. (transitive) To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
   • Hazlitt

     Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean.

3. To hasten along with superficial attention.
   • I. Watts

     They skim over a science in a very superficial survey.

4. To put on a finishing coat of plaster.
5. (transitive) to throw an object so it bounces on water (skimming stones)
6. (intransitive) to ricochet
7. (transitive) to read quickly, skipping some detail

   I skimmed the newspaper over breakfast.

8. (transitive) to scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
9. (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

10. (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

Derived terms

• skim through
• skim over
• skim off
• skimmed milk
• skimmer
• semi-skimmed

Translations

throw an object so it bounces on water

• Danish: slå smut
• Dutch: ketsen
• Finnish: heittää leipää, heittää leipiä
• French: faire (fr) des (fr) ricochets (fr)
• German: übers Wasser hüpfen lassen

• Hungarian: kacsázik
• Russian: пускать блинчики (puskátʹ blínčiki)
• Spanish: rebotar (es)
• Swedish: kasta macka

ricochet

• Arabic: يَرْتَ
• Danish: rikochettere
• Dutch: afketsen (nl)
• Finnish: kimmota
• French: ricocher (fr)
• German: abprallen
• Greek: εξοστρακίζομαι (exostrakízomai)
• Hungarian: visszapattan (hu)
• Italian: rimbalzare

• Japanese: 飛びはねる (ひびはねる, hibihaneru)
• Polish: rikoszetować
• Portuguese: ricochetear (pt)
• Romanian: a ricoșa
• Russian: рикошетировать (ru) (rikošetírovatʹ), бить рикошетом (bitʹ rikošétom)
• Spanish: rebotar (es)
• Swedish: rikoschettera, studsa
• Turkish: sekmek (tr)

read quickly, skipping some detail

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瀏覽, 浏览 (zh) (liúlǎn)

• Czech: listovat (cs)
• Danish: skimme (da)
• Dutch: doorbladeren (nl), diagonaal (nl) lezen (nl)
• Finnish: lukea pintapuolisesti, lukea hutaisten, lukaista (fi), silmäillä
• French: feuilleter (fr)
• German: überfliegen (de)
• Italian: scorrere (it)

• Japanese: ざっと読む (ざっとよむ, zatto yomu), 読み飛ばす (よみとばす, yomitobasu), 読み流す (よみながす, yominagasu)
• Norwegian: skumlese
• Portuguese: ler (pt) superficialmente (pt), ler (pt) em (pt) diagonal (pt)
• Romanian: a răsfoi (ro)
• Russian: бегло прочитывать (béglo pročítyvatʹ), пролистывать (prolístyvatʹ), листать (ru) (listátʹ)
• Spanish: hojear (es), leer (es) por (es) encima (es)
• Swedish: skumma (sv), ögna igenom (sv)

scrape off; remove (something) from a surface

• Dutch: afschrapen, afromen (nl)
• Finnish: kuoria (fi)
• German: abschöpfen (de), abstreichen

• Italian: schiumare (it)
• Spanish: desnatar

remove cream

• Finnish: kuoria (fi), kaapia (fi)
• French: écrémer (fr)
• Italian: scremare, spannare
• Jèrriais: êcrémer

• Russian: снимать (ru) (snimátʹ) (сли́вки)
• Spanish: desnatar
• Swedish: skumma (sv)

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Persian: کف گیری (kaf gīrī)

Adjective

skim (not comparable)

1. (of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Derived terms

• skim milk

Translations

having lowered fat content

• Dutch: afgeroomd (nl)
• Finnish: kuoria (fi), kimmota
• Italian: scremato (it)

• Maori: kirīmikore, kore kirīmi
• Spanish: descremado