skip

1
[ skip ]
See synonyms for skip on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),skipped, skip·ping.
  1. to move in a light, springy manner by bounding forward with alternate hops on each foot.

  2. to pass from one point, thing, subject, etc., to another, disregarding or omitting what intervenes: He skipped through the book quickly.

  1. to go away hastily and secretly; flee without notice.

  2. Education. to be advanced two or more classes or grades at once.

  3. to ricochet or bounce along a surface: The stone skipped over the lake.

verb (used with object),skipped, skip·ping.
  1. to jump lightly over: The horse skipped the fence.

  2. to pass over without reading, noting, acting, etc.: He skipped the bad parts.

  1. to miss or omit (one of a repeated series of rhythmic actions): My heart skipped a beat.

  2. to be absent from; avoid attendance at: to skip a school class.

  3. to send (a missile) ricocheting along a surface.

  4. Informal. to leave hastily and secretly or to flee from (a place): They skipped town.

noun
  1. a skipping movement; a light jump or bounce.

  2. a gait marked by such jumps.

  1. a passing from one point or thing to another, with disregard of what intervenes: a quick skip through Europe.

  2. Music. a melodic interval greater than a second.

  3. a natural depression below the surface of a planed board.

  4. Informal. a person who has absconded in order to avoid paying debts or meeting other financial responsibilities.

Verb Phrases
  1. skip out on, Informal. to flee or abandon; desert: He skipped out on his wife and two children.

Origin of skip

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb skippen, perhaps from Old Norse skopa “to take a run” (compare Icelandic skoppa “to spin like a top, hop,” Swedish dialect skopa “to skip”); the noun is derivative of the verb

synonym study For skip

1. Skip, bound refer to an elastic, springing movement. To skip is to give a series of light, quick hops alternating the feet: to skip about. Bound suggests a series of long, rather vigorous leaps; it is also applied to a springing or leaping type of walking or running rapidly and actively: A dog came bounding up to meet him.

Other words for skip

Other words from skip

  • skip·ping·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with skip

Other definitions for skip (2 of 3)

skip2
[ skip ]

noun
  1. the captain of a curling or bowling team.

  2. Informal. skipper1 (def. 1).

verb (used with object),skipped, skip·ping.
  1. to serve as skip of (a curling or bowling team).

  2. Informal. skipper1 (def. 3).

Origin of skip

2
First recorded in 1820–30; short for skipper1

Other definitions for skip (3 of 3)

skip3
[ skip ]

noun
  1. Mining. a metal box for carrying ore, hauled vertically or on an incline.

Origin of skip

3
First recorded in 1805–15; alteration of skep

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use skip in a sentence

  • If I raise my head to stand up straight, a bullet skips about my ears.

  • Skips of a third after or before one or more steps of a second are very common.

  • Sally accepts this quite contentedly, and immediately skips a great deal of unnecessary conversation.

    Somehow Good | William de Morgan
  • A happy pair they were, when they set out,—Martin carrying the provisions, and Nelly singing and making flying skips beside him.

    Nelly's First Schooldays | Josephine Franklin
  • And they, scarlet with indignation and rage, gave hot skips like cats on hot bricks, and fled discomfited forwards.

    Sea and Sardinia | D. H. Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for skip (1 of 4)

skip1

/ (skɪp) /


verbskips, skipping or skipped
  1. (when intr, often foll by over, along, into, etc) to spring or move lightly, esp to move by hopping from one foot to the other

  2. (intr) to jump over a skipping-rope

  1. to cause (a stone, etc) to bounce or skim over a surface or (of a stone) to move in this way

  2. to omit (intervening matter), as in passing from one part or subject to another: he skipped a chapter of the book

  3. (intr foll by through) informal to read or deal with quickly or superficially: he skipped through the accounts before dinner

  4. (tr) informal to miss deliberately: to skip school

  5. (tr) informal, mainly US and Canadian to leave (a place) in haste or secrecy: to skip town

noun
  1. a skipping movement or gait

  2. the act of passing over or omitting

  1. music, US and Canadian another word for leap (def. 10)

  2. skip it! informal it doesn't matter!

Origin of skip

1
C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse skopa to take a run, obsolete Swedish skuppa to skip

British Dictionary definitions for skip (2 of 4)

skip2

/ (skɪp) /


noun, verbskips, skipping or skipped
  1. informal short for skipper 1

noun
  1. the captain of a curling or bowls team

British Dictionary definitions for skip (3 of 4)

skip3

/ (skɪp) /


noun
  1. a large open container for transporting building materials, etc

  2. a cage used as a lift in mines, etc

Origin of skip

3
C19: variant of skep

British Dictionary definitions for skip (4 of 4)

skip4

/ (skɪp) /


noun
  1. a college servant, esp of Trinity College, Dublin

Origin of skip

4
C17: probably shortened from archaic skip-kennel a footman or lackey (from skip 1 + kennel ²)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with skip

skip

In addition to the idioms beginning with skip

  • skip bail
  • skip it
  • skip out

also see:

  • heart misses (skips) a beat
  • hop, skip, and a jump

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.