skate
1 Americannoun
-
the blade of an ice skate.
-
a skid on a lifeboat to facilitate launching from a listing ship.
verb (used without object)
-
skates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
skated,
past participle, past
-
skating
present participle
-
to glide or propel oneself over ice, the ground, etc., on skates.
-
to glide or slide smoothly along.
-
Slang. to shirk one's duty; loaf.
-
(of the tone arm on a record player) to swing toward the spindle while a record is playing.
verb (used with object)
-
skates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
skated,
past participle, past
-
skating
present participle
idioms
-
get / put one's skates on, to make haste.
-
skate on thin ice, to be or place oneself in a risky or delicate situation.
Taking a public stand on the question would be skating on thin ice.
noun
-
skate,
plural
-
skates
plural
noun
-
the steel blade or runner of an ice skate
-
such a blade fitted with straps for fastening to a shoe
-
a current collector on an electric railway train that collects its current from a third rail Compare bow collector
-
to hurry
verb
-
to glide swiftly on skates
-
to slide smoothly over a surface
-
to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
skatesimple
-
skatessimple
-
have skatedperfect
-
has skatedperfect
-
am skatingprogressive
-
are skatingprogressive
-
is skatingprogressive
-
have been skatingperfect progressive
-
has been skatingperfect progressive
Past
-
skatedsimple
-
had skatedperfect
-
was skatingprogressive
-
were skatingprogressive
-
had been skatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of skate1
First recorded in 1640–50; originally plural scates, from Dutch schaats (singular) “skate,” Middle Dutch schaetse “stilt” (compare Medieval Latin scatia ), of unknown origin
Origin of skate2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English scate, from Old Norse skata
Origin of skate3
First recorded in 1890–95; perhaps special use of skate 2
Explanation
Skates are things you wear on your feet so you can roll around a roller rink or glide across an icy pond. Roller skates have wheels on the bottom, and ice skates have metal blades. When you lace up your skates and start moving over the ice, you skate. You also skate when you head down the street to your friend's house on your skates—or on your skateboard. A totally different kind of skate is the sea creature that looks like a sting ray, with a wide, flat body. The sporting equipment kind of skate comes from a Germanic root meaning "thing that shakes or moves fast."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Other tour boats skate around the limestone coast fringed with wind-blasted greenery.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Students ski at the college’s Nordic center, skate at the Sidney J. Watson Arena, and borrow outdoor equipment from an extensive gear library.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
"As soon as I heard the neighbour shout, and saw Joanne standing up, I fled the scene and away towards the skate park."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Conceptually, it comes down to my beginning as a skate filmer when I was 12,” Stillz says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
There wasn’t any ice to skate on in Harlem, so I gave up following hockey.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
But Baker later removed the winch, jacked up the vehicle and placed skates beneath the rear wheels, it said.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Head coach of the Steel Queens' elite squad, Beth Dias-Scoon, swapped roller blades for ice skates at the age of seven.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
In the basement: what I believe are my first pair of hockey skates, a broken papier-mâché Groucho Marx puppet, and a Green Bay Packers helmet I hand-painted in fourth grade.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
In addition to those quirky flavor names like Smokey Dokey and Here Comes Truffle, it was selling holographic roller skates and being pen pals with fans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
One day when Stuart had recovered from bronchitis he took his new skates and put on his ski pants and went out to look for an ice pond.
From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White
Kate said she was unhappy with the response and felt the health board "skated over" the issues, adding that doctors should have "realised sooner that it wasn't just a skin condition".
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Earthless drummer and former pro skater Mario Rubalcaba skated the infamous Nude Bowl outside Desert Hot Springs while still a teenager and saw Kyuss play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
Then the game started—and the U.S. skated into a new era of American hockey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
"Ami and Mone, who shared this experience with me, both skated with such strength that you wouldn't think it was their first Olympic Games," said Sakamoto, who had dominated the sport since 2022.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
It wasn't snitching because everybody knew Pia skated through school.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Some buildings are still closed, but many have been renovated or reimagined, like one damaged structure that has been turned into an outdoor skating rink.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
The ice events will now be hosted in Lyon, with the exception of speed skating, which will take place in Heerenveen in the Netherlands.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
It provides investors with yet another reason to worry that the stock market is skating on thin ice.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
The two girls are thrown together by their mutual commitment to their passions, science and skating.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
I used to go up there all the time with Hudson because of the skating rink, and yeah, he had a thing for the Hudson River too.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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