Link Centre Dictionary

skimp

UK/ˈskɪmp/ US/ˈskɘmp/ rare dated uk us

verb

1.
2.

limit in quality or quantity

Synonyms
3.

subsist on a meager allowance

  • “scratch and scrimp”
Synonyms
4.

supply sparingly and with restricted quantities

  • “sting with the allowance”
Synonyms

Origin

Perhaps of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną (“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”). Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), dialectal Swedish skimpa (“to skip, dance”), Faroese skumpa (“to shove, bump”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”). Possibly distantly related to change.

Phrases

  • skimp and save

Related words

Word family

Broader 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.