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
Most accounts of the American Revolution skate right over the ill-fated invasion of Quebec in 1775, months before the Declaration of Independence.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
Because he couldn’t skate growing up in tiny Port Williams, Nova Scotia — population 1,100 — Shaffelburg turned first to running, winning the province championship at 3,000 meters in middle school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 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
I kind of skate through the announcements and homeroom and then I’m dozing in history.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
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
Growing up in Quebec, the midfielder said he was fitted for hockey skates long before he tried on soccer cleats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Each time, the 30-something Staal could have easily hung up his skates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
If Penelope had been in a jollier mood, the idea of Mrs. Clarke in a pair of ice skates, gracefully twirling and leaping across a frozen expanse, would have made her struggle not to laugh.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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
In Minnesota’s Game 3 double-overtime loss to the Stars, Hughes skated a whopping 6.35 miles—the most anyone has logged in a single game all season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 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
"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
Dragonflies skated over the scum on the stagnant backwater.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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
In warmer weather, you can rent kayaks, wave runners and paddleboards or take a seasonal cruise aboard the Lake Lawn Queen; winter brings cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice fishing and sledding.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
It provides investors with yet another reason to worry that the stock market is skating on thin ice.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
If Madeline goes skating, she’s liable to fall, and not likely to try it again. like/as.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
