skim

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skɪm/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪm

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
   • 1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: W. Lewis , published 1711, →OCLC:

     Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along 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, and skimming the 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:

     They skim over a science in a very night superficial survey.

4. To put on a finishing coat of plaster.
5. (transitive) To throw an object so it bounces on water.

   skimming stones

6. (intransitive) To ricochet.
7. (transitive) To read quickly, skipping some detail.

   I skimmed the newspaper over breakfast.

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

   to skim milk

   to skim broth

10. (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 skim cream

11. To steal money from a business before the transaction has been recorded, thus avoiding detection.
    • 2006, Herbert Snyder, Small Change, Big Problems, page 48:

      Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that a skimming fraud will occur.

    • 2009, Tracy L. Coenen, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide, page 109:

      […] take this money without entering anything into the record-keeping system, thereby accomplishing a theft by skimming.

12. To surreptitiously scan a payment card in order to obtain its information for fraudulent purposes.
13. (intransitive) To become coated over.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

skim (not comparable)

1. (of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Derived terms

• skim milk

Translations

Noun

skim (countable and uncountable, plural skims)

1. A cursory reading, 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 a skim through 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, skim is best.

3. The act of skimming.
   • 1969, Newsweek, volume 74, page 75:

     Then you could jump 150 years and enjoy a skim across 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 with skims.

   • 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; a skim of only one percent of a construction project can amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Indonesian: skim

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch schim, from Middle Dutch schim, schem, from Old Dutch *skim, *skimo, from Proto-Germanic *skimaz, *skimô (“shine; light”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skəm/

Noun

skim (plural skimme)

1. A shade, a shadow, a spectre.

Indonesian

Etymology

From English skim, 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s(ə)kɪm/

Noun

skim (first-person possessive skimku, second-person possessive skimmu, third-person possessive skimnya)

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

Usage notes

The word is part of difference between Standard Malay and Indonesian. The Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore usage can be seen in Malay skim.

Malay

Etymology

From English scheme.

Noun

skim (plural skim-skim, informal 1st possessive skimku, 2nd possessive skimmu, 3rd possessive skimnya)

1. scheme.

Usage notes

The word is part of difference between Standard Malay and Indonesian. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian skim.

Alternative forms

• skema (Indonesia)