26984 words

skim

11 definitions • 14 examples
1
to move quickly just above a surface without touching it:

Examples:

The birds skimmed (across/along/over) the tops of the waves.
2
to throw a flat stone horizontally over water so that it touches and rises off the surface several times:

Examples:

3
to read or consider something quickly in order to understand the main points, without studying it in detail:

Examples:

I've only skimmed (through/over) his letter; I haven't read it carefully yet.
We've only skimmed the surface of (= considered a small part of) the problem.
4
to remove something solid from the surface of a liquid:

Examples:

Strain the cooking liquid and skim off the fat.
5
to secretly use a piece of equipment that records someone's credit card details in order to use their credit card account illegally
6
to move quickly just above or on a surface, or to cause something to move above or on a surface:

Examples:

[ I ] Skaters skim over the ice.
[ T ] I skimmed a pebble across the lake.
7
to read or look at something quickly to understand the main points, without studying it in detail:

Examples:

[ T ] You can’t just skim the tax forms.
[ I ] Skim through this report.
8
to remove something solid from the surface of a liquid:

Examples:

Stew the chicken, then skim the fat.
9
to steal money from an account, budget, etc. over a period of time in amounts that cannot be easily noticed:

Examples:

skim sth from sth The defendants were accused of skimming money from a multimillion-dollar construction project.
During the lifetime of their company the defendants skimmed off more than €5.5 million.
10

Examples:

More than $98m of total bank fraud was taken by criminals using bank cards that had been skimmed.
11
to charge a high price for a new product in order to make as much profit as possible before other similar products become available and prices fall:

Examples:

Marketers might choose to skim the market to position their brand as a luxury good.

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