a boot or shoe with four small wheels attached that enable the wearer to glide swiftly over a floor or other surface
a device having clamps or straps for attaching such wheels to a boot or shoe
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65
First recorded in 1870–75; v. use of roller skate
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But as the group connected with other skate-centric communities, including inline and roller skate group the Skate Hunnies, its size and network began to grow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2024
Exercise has been a part of Jill Biden’s life since she was a child who liked to roller skate.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
But there’s something about going around in a rink, or if I’m at a great beach where I can roller skate, with the air hitting my face.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2023
But "Running Up That Hill" isn't employed merely to set a tone or place us in an era, like neon roller skate wheels or Scrunchies.
From Salon ● May 30, 2022
Across the street a girl new in the neighborhood skated up and down the sidewalk on one roller skate.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
R&B singer Usher has promised to roller-skate during his Super Bowl half-time show, in Las Vegas, on Sunday.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2024
Powell liked to roller-skate, do aerobics, play Frisbee, and lift weights.
From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2020
As a boy, he and his brothers would roller-skate along Fifth Avenue trailed by a limousine, in case they grew tired.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2017
When Gus and I were kids, she taught us to roller-skate and read us everything from Beatrix Potter to Newsweek.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2014
I watched her once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue to go to the park, and that's what she is, roller-skate skinny.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
The highly anticipated film roller-skates into theaters July 21.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
Mr. Rockman travels on roller-skates — an exhilarating if terrifying experience when plunging down the mountains outside Jerusalem toward the coastal plain outside Tel Aviv.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
Todd Phillips trains the camera on the movie screen as the Little Tramp roller-skates closer and closer to a steep drop.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2020
The wheels were basic - taken from roller-skates and attached to the board - but Wang quickly became an enthusiast.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2016
He was a very good skater and all, but I couldn't enjoy it much because I kept picturing him practicing to be a guy that roller-skates on the stage.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
The actress roller-skated throughout her Broadway debut in “Starlight Express,” sung while suspended upside down in her Tony-winning performance of “Nine” and learned Bob Fosse’s famously particular style of dance for “Damn Yankees.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
The movie, of course, was a mess — but the kind of wildly colorful, overstuffed, yes-to-everything mess that could have roller-skated right into his own work.
From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
The Mariner moose roller-skated onto the scene in 1990, and Harry the Husky joined the fray in 1995.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2021
Dreibelbis told ProPublica he roller-skated into the protest, expecting to attend only briefly.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2020
Carefully she sidestepped the boys who played basketball, the girls who roller-skated, the groups who seemed to laugh or whisper whenever she passed.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
Coco Franklin, a yoga and roller-skating instructor in Long Beach, Calif., bought a 2003 Jeep Wrangler a few years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Before that morning, marriage had sounded nice, but sort of “like saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to go roller-skating on the moon?’” said Martin, now 65.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
The Corn Exchange began hosting entertainment from 1858 and played host to Shakespeare recitations, dancing, roller-skating, wrestling and bingo.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2023
What organizers have dubbed the recess district will occupy the Artists at Play area near MoPOP, with performances from those theatrical wrestling pros and the Roll Around Seatown roller-skating brigade.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2023
Tanisha and I used to spend lots of Saturdays at the roller-skating rink in downtown Newark.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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.
