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Webster 1913 Edition

Skim

Skim

(skĭm)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Skimmed
(skĭmd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Skimming
.]
[Cf. Sw.
skymma
to darken. √158. See
Scum
.]
1.
To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying thereon, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface;
as, to
skim
milk; to
skim
broth.
2.
To take off by skimming;
as, to
skim
cream
.
3.
To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and
skimming
the surface of the ocean.
Hazlitt.
4.
Fig.: To read or examine superficially and rapidly, in order to cull the principal facts or thoughts;
as, to
skim
a book or a newspaper
.

Skim

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o’er the unbending corn, and
skims
along the main.
Pope.
2.
To hasten along with superficial attention.
They
skim
over a science in a very superficial survey.
I. Watts.
3.
To put on the finishing coat of plaster.

Skim

,
Adj.
Contraction of
Skimming
and
Skimmed
.
Skim coat
,
the final or finishing coat of plaster.
–
Skim colter
,
a colter for paring off the surface of land.
–
Skim milk
,
skimmed milk; milk from which the cream has been taken.

Webster 1828 Edition

Skim

SKIM

,
Noun.
(a different orthography of scum;
Scum; the thich matter that forms on the surface of a liquor.

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