skim

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English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishskemen,skymen,variants ofscumen,fromOld Frenchescumer(“to remove scum”),fromescume(“froth, foam”),fromFrankish*skūm(“froth, foam”),fromProto-Germanic*skūmaz(“foam”),fromProto-Indo-European*skew-(“to cover, conceal”).Seescum.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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skim(third-person singular simple presentskims,present participleskimming,simple past and past participleskimmed)

  1. (intransitive)To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
    • 1711May,[Alexander Pope],An Essay on Criticism,London:[…]W[illiam]Lewis[…];and sold by W[illiam]Taylor[…],T[homas]Osborn[e][…],and J[ohn]Graves[…],→OCLC:
      Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, andskimsalong the main.
  2. (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, andskimmingthe surface of the ocean.
  3. To hasten along with superficial attention.
    • 1741,I[saac] Watts,The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick:[…],London:[…]James Brackstone,[…],→OCLC:
      Theyskimover a science in a very night superficial survey.
  4. To put on a finishing coat ofplaster.
  5. (transitive)Tothrowan object so itbouncesonwater.
    skimmingstones
  6. (intransitive)Toricochet.
  7. (transitive)To read quickly,skippingsome detail.
    Iskimmedthe newspaper over breakfast.
  8. (transitive)Toscrapeoff; toremove(something) from asurface
  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.
    toskimmilk
    toskimbroth
  10. (transitive)To clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially thecreamthat floats on top of freshmilk.
    toskimcream
  11. To steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
    • 2006,Herbert Snyder,Small Change, Big Problems,page48:
      Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that askimmingfraud will occur.
    • 2009,Tracy L. Coenen,Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide,page109:
      […]take this money without entering anything into the record-keeping system, thereby accomplishing a theft byskimming.
  12. Tosurreptitiouslyscan apayment cardin order to obtain its information forfraudulentpurposes.
  13. (intransitive)To become coated over.

Derived terms

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Derived terms

Translations

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

Adjective

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skim(notcomparable)

  1. (of milk)Havingloweredfatcontent.

Derived terms

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Translations

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having lowered fat content

Noun

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skim(countableanduncountable,pluralskims)

  1. Acursoryreading,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 askimthrough 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,skimis best.
  3. The act of skimming.
    • 1969,Newsweek,volume74,page75:
      Then you could jump 150 years and enjoy askimacross the Solent in Britain's remarkable Hovercraft.
  4. That which is skimmed off.
  5. Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
    • 1976,Paul Schrader,Taxi Driver,spoken by Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro):
      It's a hustle, but it keeps me busy. I can take in three to three-fifty a week, more withskims.
    • 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; askimof only one percent of a construction project can amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • →Indonesian:skim

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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FromDutchschim,fromMiddle Dutchschim,schem,fromOld Dutch*skim,*skimo,fromProto-Germanic*skimaz,*skimô(“shine; light”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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skim(pluralskimme)

  1. Ashade,ashadow,aspectre.

Indonesian

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Etymology

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FromEnglishskim,fromMiddle Englishskemen,skymen,variants ofscumen,fromOld Frenchescumer(“to remove scum”),fromescume(“froth, foam”),fromFrankish*skūm(“froth, foam”),fromProto-Germanic*skūmaz(“foam”),fromProto-Indo-European*skew-(“to cover, conceal”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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skim(first-person possessiveskimku,second-person possessiveskimmu,third-person possessiveskimnya)

  1. skim milk:non-fat milk; milk that has had the cream removed.

Usage notes

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The word is part ofdifference between Standard Malay and Indonesian.The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen inMalayskim.

Malay

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Etymology

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FromEnglishscheme.

Noun

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skim(pluralskim-skim,informal 1st possessiveskimku,2nd possessiveskimmu,3rd possessiveskimnya)

  1. scheme.

Usage notes

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The word is part ofdifference between Standard Malay and Indonesian.The Indonesian usage can be seen inIndonesianskim.

Alternative forms

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