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▪ I. ˈskimming, vbl. n.
[f. skim v.]
1. That which is removed or obtained by skimming. Usually pl.
c1450M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 198 Put hyt in a panne ouer þe fuyr, & skem hyt wel as long as eny skemmyng wol aryse. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 250 The smoake that the people reported to see and the skyminges of potts. 1658Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1096 Apply that skimming of the air, that is, those cobwebs that are scattered in Autumn. 1750Ellis Mod. Husb. V. iii. 57 (E.D.D.), The skimmings [of soaked wheat] he sowed by themselves. 1777Cook's Voy. (1784) I. i. vii. 130 They relished the very skimmings of the kettle. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 211 The last skimmings are termed fleetings, and are generally reserved for the use of the servants. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Skimmings,..thick syrup or scum in sugar-boiling.
fig.1553Respublica 98 The skimmynges, the gubbins of booties and praies. 1838Thackeray in Fraser's Mag. Mar. 353 Skimmings from ‘The Diary of George IV’. 1845Huxley in Life (1900) I. i. 14 These are but the top skimmings of these five years' living. 1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst (title), The Cream of Leicestershire: Eleven seasons' skimmings; notable runs and incidents of the chase.
2. a. The action of removing floating matter from the surface of a liquid, etc. Also fig.
1611Cotgr., Escumement,..a scumming, or skimming. 1642Rogers Naaman 252 After a short skeaming off a little of the sweet of their will. 1774Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772 II. 299 The great scallop-shell is made use of in the dairies of this country for the skimming of milk. 1826Art Brewing (ed. 2) 115 Repeat the skimming until no yeast rises. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, I..will return in the skimming of a bowie. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. ii. §1. 65 The impurities, which are afterwards removed by skimming.
b. The practice of concealing or diverting some of one's earnings or takings to avoid paying tax on them. U.S. slang. Cf. skim v. 2 d.
1966Economist 10 Sept. 1023/3 The report ascribed the allegations of skimming and underworld connections to excessive zeal displayed by the department. 1966Wall St. Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 23 Nov. 32 The term ‘skimming’ refers to the alleged practice of some casino operators of failing to report the full amount of their gambling revenues to state and Federal tax authorities, and often distributing this unreported income to alleged secret interests in their casinos. 1970Ibid. 23 Mar. 13/1 A few years ago in Philadelphia, the owner of a large pizza parlour was suspected of skimming. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 23 Oct. 2/4 To correct the common practice of ‘skimming’ (underreporting the income from bingo games), the commission suggests that all states require operators to report the percentage of the take that actually goes to the intended charity. 1982Daily Tel. 24 Aug. 11/2 Charged in connection with a ‘skimming’ operation—siphoning off money to avoid tax—at a Las Vegas casino.
3. a. The action of reading (over) hastily.
1711Gay Pres. St. Wit in Arber Garner VI. 506 A lively instance of those Wits who..‘will endure but one skimming’. 1751Skelton Deism Revealed viii. (ed. 2) II. 302 They run over a book with all imaginable haste [etc.]: this they call skimming. 1862Helps Organiz. Daily Life 85 The skimming over [of the pamphlet] was effected in half an hour.
b. The action of causing to skim through the air.
c1745in Lees Hist. Inverness-shire (1897) xi. 169 Such loud huzzas and schimming of bonnets up into the air..was not heard of for a long time.
4. attrib., as skimming-gate, skimming-iron, skimming-ladle, etc.; skimming net, a fishing-net with a handle, a dip-net.
163912th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. IX. 8 One Skiminge spoone with holes in it. 1801Farmer's Mag. Nov. 375 They use a kind of skimming plough..having a flat share, somewhat like a mason's trowel, with two long wings projecting backwards. 1806Lewis & Clark Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) IV. xxv. 292 Those people have a number of buffalow robes. They have great number of skimming nets. 1813Ellis Brand's Pop. Antiq. II. 111 Mr. Douce derives it from the Skimming-Ladle. 1837Penny Cycl. VII. 14/2 When the curd is properly formed, it is cut horizontally in thin slices by the same skimming⁓ladle. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 578 A scum on the surface, which is removed with skimming irons. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 344 The pot is now lifted out..and carried to the skimming-place. 1862Ansted Channel Isl. ii. viii. 194 note, Taken with the skimming net. 1884W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron 201 The recess..for the skimming of the metal is known as the skimming gate.
▸ Electronic copying of the data on the magnetic strip of a credit card, bank card, etc., for the purposes of fraud.
1984Business Week 15 Oct. 105/1 (heading) ‘Skimming.’.. Credit card fraud is approaching crisis proportions. 1993Amer. Banker (Nexis) 3 Nov. 19 Watermark and Holomagnetics are intended to stop a form of credit card counterfeiting called skimming, in which counterfeiters copy data from the magnetic stripe of a card onto a fake card. 1998Sunday Times 19 July (Money section) 3 [She] may have fallen victim to ‘skimming’. This is when a retailer acts in collusion with a fraudster and keeps a copy of the information stored on the magnetic strip after it has been swiped through the till. 2001National Post (Toronto) 13 June c3/1 Similar to an Internet virus, this next generation of skimming involves either a tiny piece of hardware slipped into the credit card machine or a tiny program unknowingly downloaded by a merchant when getting new software from his bank.
▪ II. ˈskimming, ppl. a.
[f. skim v.]
1. Moving lightly along or close to a surface; flying in an easy gliding manner, etc.
a1685Otway Epist. to Mr. Duke 33 Where skimming swallows o'er the surface fly. 1783Burns ‘Now Westlin Winds’ iv, Thick flies the skimming Swallow. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 7 Like skimming bees That fly and flirt about. 1859Maury Phys. Geog. §432 We know that it is not such a skimming current as the geologist would make, which runs from one lake to another. 1894Outing XXIV. 223/1 The dead leaves lift and whirl as though from an earth-skimming cannon shot.
2. fig. Touching merely the surface of a subject; not deep or thorough.
1728Morgan Algiers II. v. 307 A bare superficial, skimming knowledge in the French. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 181 There are more ways than one of grooming a horse, as may be witnessed by the skimming and careless way in which some ploughmen do it. 1899Westm. Gaz. 20 June 1/3 With all this light and skimming talk.
3. Serving to skim a thing over.
1843Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 211/1 The first, or ‘skimming’ coat of the covering being laid on of a thickness of 3/16 inch.
4. Cricket. Of a bowler: that bowls the ball with a low trajectory (obs.). Also, of a shot which carries low and fast. Cf. skimmer 8 b.
1851W. Clark in W. Bolland Cricket Notes 132 Suppose you have what I call a skimming Bowler. 1888A. G. Steel in Steel & Lyttelton Cricket iii. 165 The low skimming fast bowler is generally an easy man to play. 1930Morning Post 9 Aug. 14/1 Woolley..made a low skimming drive over the ring at long-on for 6 off S. Staples. |