skate over

verb

1. to cross on or as if on skates
2. to avoid dealing with (a matter) fully

Idioms and Phrases

Treat superficially or hurriedly, avoid mentioning, as in He concentrated on the main points of the contract and skated over the details . This idiom transfers the gliding motion of skating to dealing with something in a cursory way. [Mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

To think that I used to skate over the meadows where that mountain now stands!

From Project Gutenberg

And then when these critics have to skate over the "Poems and Ballads" episode—thin, cracking ice!

From Project Gutenberg

To skate over meadows and into inaccessible bogs gives one a taste for exploration.

From Project Gutenberg

Both of the boys looked the broken skate over, and then retired to the old boathouse to see if they could not fix it.

From Project Gutenberg

I still take my daily walk, or skate over Concord fields or meadows, and on the whole have more to do with nature than with man.

From Project Gutenberg