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)
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to glide or propel oneself over ice, the ground, etc., on skates.
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to glide or slide smoothly along.
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Slang. to shirk one's duty; loaf.
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(of the tone arm on a record player) to swing toward the spindle while a record is playing.
verb (used with object)
idioms
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get / put one's skates on, to make haste.
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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
noun
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the steel blade or runner of an ice skate
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such a blade fitted with straps for fastening to a shoe
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a current collector on an electric railway train that collects its current from a third rail Compare bow collector
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to hurry
verb
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to glide swiftly on skates
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to slide smoothly over a surface
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to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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skatesimple
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skatessimple
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have skatedperfect
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has skatedperfect
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am skatingprogressive
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are skatingprogressive
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is skatingprogressive
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have been skatingperfect progressive
-
has been skatingperfect progressive
Past
-
skatedsimple
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had skatedperfect
-
was skatingprogressive
-
were skatingprogressive
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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:
"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
The play, which had its premiere off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, is a freewheeling love story, set in a skate park in the middle of an urban wasteland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
What a shame, considering a three-dimensional approach might be all “Obsession” needs to skate past mediocrity.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
Another, whose identity we are not revealing, adds: "I want to see a skate park or a pump track or a dirt track – more that the kids can do and enjoy."
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
He handed me my skate and I wiped the paint chips from the blade.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Norwegians are famously born wearing skis and skates, but two-thirds of the country’s boys are still wearing soccer boots when they’re 11 years old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The girls see the appeal in some of the toys on display, with Bella-May particularly taken with a pair of roller skates.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
Nancy Iskander, at the criminal trial, testified that she began to cross on inline skates with her youngest son, Zachary, next to her on his scooter.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
Nancy Iskander at the criminal trial testified she began to cross on inline skates with her youngest son, Zachary, next to her on his scooter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Lill, who was saving for a pair of roller skates and wanted the money, kept insisting she could do it.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Pro 7, which ran an advertising campaign in which their mascot held an Olympic flame or curled, skated or bob-sledded down a supermarket aisle, was fined a total of 550,000 euros.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 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
The 12 Olympic rookies on Team USA skated as if they were stunned by the moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
The skateboard dude had already skated off with his refund.
From "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies
The 2027 figure skating, short track and speed skating world championships will be hosted by Finland, South Korea and China, respectively.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
German fans mostly gathered in an area that typically serves as an ice skating rink but has been converted to resemble an indoor beer garden, with benches in front of a large screen.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
There was also a knighthood and damehood for Olympic champions Dame Jayne Torvill and Sir Christopher Dean, for services to ice skating and to voluntary service.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
This analysis suggests that the S&P 500 will be skating on thin ice over the next few quarters.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
The track at Pimlico became a virtual skating rink, and Smith limited Seabiscuit’s outings to walks around the shed rows.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
