skateboard

American  

[skeyt-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈskeɪtˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

1. a device for riding upon, usually while standing, consisting of a short, oblong piece of wood, plastic, fiberglass, or aluminum mounted on large roller-skate wheels, used on smooth surfaces and requiring better balance on the part of the rider than ordinary roller skates do.

   Skateboards were pretty “primitive” back in the sixties.

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verb (used without object)

skateboards, present (3rd person singular) skateboarded, past participle, past skateboarding present participle

1. to ride a skateboard.

   She skateboarded during her lunch break nearly every day.

skateboard British  

/ ˈskeɪtˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a narrow board mounted on roller-skate wheels, usually ridden while standing up

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verb

1. (intr) to ride on a skateboard

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• skateboarding
  noun
• skateboarder
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• has skateboarded
  perfect 3rd person singular
• have skateboarded
  perfect
• am skateboarding
  progressive 1st person singular
• has been skateboarding
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• are skateboarding
  progressive
• skateboarding
  participle
• is skateboarding
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been skateboarding
  perfect progressive
• skateboards
  singular 3rd person

Past

• had skateboarded
  perfect
• were skateboarding
  progressive plural
• skateboarded
  participle
• had been skateboarding
  perfect progressive
• was skateboarding
  progressive singular
• skateboarded
  simple

Future

• will skateboard
  simple
• will have skateboarded
  perfect
• will be skateboarding
  progressive
• will have been skateboarding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of skateboard

First recorded in 1960–65; skate ¹ + board

Explanation

A skateboard is a board with wheels on the bottom that you ride standing up. If you practice enough, you'll be able to do tricks on your skateboard, or at least ride down the block without falling off. When you ride your skateboard, you can say that you skateboard or skate. The sport or activity you do on a skateboard is skateboarding. The first skateboards, consisting of boxes or boards fitted with wheels from roller skates, appeared in the 1940s. The earliest skateboarders were surfers who wanted a way to practice even when they were on dry land—because of this, they were sometimes called "sidewalk surfers."

Example Sentences

Ever since it emerged out of California’s skateboard shops and from the streets of Flatbush in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the 1980s, however, this category has exploded into a multibillion-dollar retail business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

"He'd stuff in her garage including a skateboard and a workbench and he'd come looking them back."

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

In 2016, Philadelphia razed another skateboard Mecca, known as Love Park.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

To her surprise, Okamura began learning to skateboard when her daughter started taking lessons.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

He could hacky-sack with the best of them, and knew how to skateboard.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi