Link Centre Dictionary

skim

UK/skɪm/ US/ˈskɪm/ uncommon informal
verb (7) noun (2) adjective (1)

verb

1.

travel on the surface of water

Synonyms
2.

move or pass swiftly and lightly over the surface of

Synonyms
3.

examine hastily

  • “She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi”
Synonyms
4.

cause to skip over a surface

  • “Skip a stone across the pond”
Synonyms
5.

coat (a liquid) with a layer

6.

remove from the surface

  • “skim cream from the surface of milk”
Synonyms
7.

noun

1.

a thin layer covering the surface of a liquid

  • “there was a thin skim of oil on the water”
2.

reading or glancing through quickly

Synonyms

adjective

1.

used of milk and milk products from which the cream has been removed

  • “yogurt made with skim milk”
  • “she can drink skimmed milk but should avoid butter”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • skim coat
  • skim off
  • skim over
  • skim pit
  • skim through
  • skimmed milk

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.