SKIM

skim, skimmed

(adjective) 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”

skim, skimming

(noun) reading or glancing through quickly

skim

(noun) a thin layer covering the surface of a liquid; “there was a thin skim of oil on the water”

skim, skim over

(verb) read superficially

skim, skim off, cream off, cream

(verb) remove from the surface; “skim cream from the surface of milk”

skim

(verb) coat (a liquid) with a layer

skim, skip, skitter

(verb) cause to skip over a surface; “Skip a stone across the pond”

plane, skim

(verb) travel on the surface of water

scan, skim, rake, glance over, run down

(verb) examine hastily; “She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

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

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

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

To hasten along with superficial attention.

To put on a finishing coat of plaster.

(transitive) to throw an object so it bounces on water (skimming stones)

(intransitive) to ricochet

(transitive) to read quickly, skipping some detail

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

(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.

(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 steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.

To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.

(intransitive) To become coated over.

Adjective

skim (not comparable)

(of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Noun

skim (countable and uncountable, plural skims)

A cursory reading, skipping the details.

(informal) Skim milk.

The act of skimming.

That which is skimmed off.

Theft of money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.

Source: Wiktionary


Skim, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skimmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Skimming.] Etym: [Cf. Sw. skymma to darken. sq. root158. See Scum.]

1. To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying thereon, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface; as, to skim milk; to skim broth.

2. To take off by skimming; as, to skim cream.

3. To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of. Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean. Hazlitt.

4. Fig.: To read or examine superficially and rapidly, in order to cull the principal facts or thoughts; as, to skim a book or a newspaper.

Skim, v. i.

1. To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface. Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. Pope.

2. To hasten along with superficial attention. They skim over a science in a very superficial survey. I. Watts.

3. To put on the finishing coat of plaster.

Skim, a.

Definition: Contraction of Skimming and Skimmed. Skim coat, the final or finishing coat of plaster.

– Skim colter, a colter for paring off the surface of land.

– Skim milk, skimmed milk; milk from which the cream has been taken.

Skim, n.

Definition: Scum; refuse. Bryskett.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 April 2024

SUBDUCTION

(noun) a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate


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Coffee Trivia

The world’s most expensive coffee costs more than US$700 per kilogram. Asian palm civet – a cat-like creature in Indonesia, eats fruits, including select coffee cherries. It excretes partially digested seeds that produce a smooth, less acidic brew of coffee called kopi luwak.

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