skim

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English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English skemen, skymen, variants of scumen, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French escumer (“to remove scum”), from escume (“froth, foam”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language code; the value "frk" is not valid. See WT:LOL. *skūm (“froth, foam”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *skūmaz (“foam”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *skew- (“to cover, conceal”). See scum.

Pronunciation

Verb

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  1. (intransitive) To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
    • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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.
    • (Can we date this quote by Hazlitt and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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.
    • (Can we date this quote by I. Watts and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      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
  11. To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
  12. (intransitive) To become coated over.

Derived terms

Derived terms

Template:der-mid

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Adjective

skim (not comparable)

  1. (of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Derived terms

Translations

having lowered fat content

Noun

skim (countable and uncountable, plural skims)

  1. 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.
  2. (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.
  3. 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.
  4. That which is skimmed off.

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch schim, from Middle Dutch schim, schem, from Old Dutch *skim, *skimo, from Proto-Germanic *skimaz, *skimô (“shine; light”).

Pronunciation

Noun

skim (plural skimme)

  1. A shade, a shadow, a spectre.

Indonesian

Etymology

From English skim.

Pronunciation

Noun

skim (first-person possessive skimku, second-person possessive skimmu, third-person possessive skimnya)

  1. Skim milk.

Malay

Etymology

From English scheme.

Noun

skim (plural skim-skim, informal 1st possessive skimku, 2nd possessive skimmu, 3rd possessive skimnya)

  1. scheme.
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