skim

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to read something quickly to get the main ideas without studying the details

   I skimmed the article over breakfast to get the main points.

2. 2
   verb

   to remove something, especially fat or cream, from the surface of a liquid

   Skim the cream from the top of the milk before you use it.

3. 3
   verb

   to move quickly and lightly just above or across a surface

   The birds skimmed low over the surface of the water.

4. 4
   adj

   (of milk) having had the cream removed

   She prefers her coffee with skim milk.

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.

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