skim

verb

/skɪm/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they skim	/skɪm/ /skɪm/
he / she / it skims	/skɪmz/ /skɪmz/
past simple skimmed	/skɪmd/ /skɪmd/
past participle skimmed	/skɪmd/ /skɪmd/
-ing form skimming	/ˈskɪmɪŋ/ /ˈskɪmɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

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[transitive] to remove fat, cream, etc. from the surface of a liquid
- skim something off/from something Skim the scum off the jam and let it cool.
- skim something Skim the jam and let it cool.
[intransitive, transitive, no passive] to move quickly and lightly over a surface, not touching it or only touching it occasionally; to make something do this
- skim along/over, etc. something We watched the birds skimming over the lake.
- We skimmed across the water in a small sailing boat.
- (figurative) His eyes skimmed over her face.
- skim something The speedboat took off, skimming the waves.
- (figurative) This report has barely skimmed the surface of the subject.
- skim something across, over, etc. something (British English) Small boys were skimming stones across the water.
see also skip
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- barely
- only
- low
- …
preposition
- across
- over
phrases
- skim the surface
See full entry
[intransitive, transitive] to read something quickly in order to find a particular point or the main points
- skim through/over something He skimmed through the article trying to find his name.
- skim something I always skim the financial section of the newspaper.
- I skimmed the list until I found my name.
[transitive] skim something (from something) (informal) to steal small amounts of money frequently over a period of time
- She’d been skimming money from the store’s accounts for years.
[intransitive, transitive] skim (something) to illegally copy electronic information from a credit card in order to use it without the owner’s permission
- It is estimated that skimming now accounts for almost 50% of credit card fraud.
Topics Crime and punishmentc2

Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘remove scum from (a liquid)’): back-formation from skimmer, or from Old French escumer, from escume ‘scum, foam’.