Skim Meaning
/skɪm/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
verbTo pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
Sentence Examples
Skim through this pamphlet before you take the examination for our company.
I'll try giving the book "Reiko's Recommended" a quick skim read on the spot.
Let the milk stand overnight and skim off the cream.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef used a spoon to ____ the fat from the top of the soup.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ through the long report to get the main points before the meeting.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main."
— 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:
"Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean."
— 1817, William Hazlitt, The Round Table:
"They skim over a science in a very night superficial survey."
— 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:
"Ceilings are lined with fibrous asbestos, the internal plastering being reduced to skimming alone."
— 1924, The Architect, volume 112, page 291:
"Obviously, the longer cash sits around before being recorded, the more likely it is that a skimming fraud will occur."
— 2006, Herbert Snyder, Small Change, Big Problems, page 48:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The chef used a spoon to ____ the fat from the top of the soup.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ through the long report to get the main points before the meeting.