skate

[ skeyt ]

/ skeɪt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR skate

noun

ice skate (def. 1).

roller skate.

the blade of an ice skate.

a skid on a lifeboat to facilitate launching from a listing ship.

verb (used without object), skat·ed, skat·ing.

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), skat·ed, skat·ing.

to slide (a flat) across the floor of a stage.

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To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.

To stew in a sauce for a long time.

To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.

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Idioms for skate

get / put one's skates on, British Informal. 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.

Origin of skate

First recorded in 1640–50; originally plural scates, from Dutch schaats (singular) “skate,” Middle Dutch schaetse “stilt” (compare Medieval Latin scatia ), of unknown origin

OTHER WORDS FROM skate

skate·a·ble, adjective

Words nearby skate

skanky-ho, Skara Brae, skarn, Skase, skat, skate, skateboard, skateboarding, skatemobile, skate over, skatepark

Definition for skate (2 of 3)

skate²

[ skeyt ]

/ skeɪt /

noun, plural (especially collectively) skate, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) skates.

any of several rays of the genus Raja, usually having a pointed snout, as R. binoculata(big skate ), inhabiting waters along the Pacific coast of the United States, growing to a length of 8 feet (2.4 meters).

Origin of skate

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English scate, from Old Norse skata

Definition for skate (3 of 3)

skate³

[ skeyt ]

/ skeɪt /

noun Slang.

a person; fellow: He's a good skate.

a contemptible person.

an inferior, decrepit horse; nag.

Origin of skate

First recorded in 1890–95; perhaps special use of skate²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for skate

Yeah, he wanted to skate and had never skated before, so I taught him when he was 58.
Putin’s Hockey Pal Tells All: Slava Fetisov on ‘Red Army,’ Soviet Nostalgia, and What Drives Putin|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We'd skate and walk over the Mile Road and skate and walk over the railroad and skate some more.
Gordie Howe Hockey’s Greatest War Horse|W.C. Heinz|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My sister Edna took one skate and I took the other, and I was so small that I put I it on right over my shoe.
Gordie Howe Hockey’s Greatest War Horse|W.C. Heinz|May 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I kissed the skate key four times a day just to have something to do.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview|Alex Belth|February 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST

You can watch Takahashi skate to the same music in the clip below.
Japan’s Beloved Deaf Composer is Neither Deaf Nor a Composer|Jimmy So|February 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The recollection of a fall he once had, when his skate caught on a stone, still lingers in the district.
A Critic in Pall Mall|Oscar Wilde
Of the cartilaginous class, those which are flat have no fins, as the skate.
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnus|William MacGillivray
So soon as the skate passes on, the water resumes the solid state.
The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays|J. (John) Joly
At that point the ice turns to water just as it does beneath the skate.
The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays|J. (John) Joly
When the skate is securely clamped to the base the blade can be easily "hollow ground" or given a slight curve on the edge.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for skate (1 of 3)

skate¹

/ (skeɪt) /

noun

See roller skate, ice skate

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 railCompare bow collector

get one's skates on to hurry

verb (intr)

to glide swiftly on skates

to slide smoothly over a surface

skate on thin ice to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation

Word Origin for skate

C17: via Dutch from Old French éschasse stilt, probably of Germanic origin

British Dictionary definitions for skate (2 of 3)

skate²

/ (skeɪt) /

noun plural skate or skates

any large ray of the family Rajidae, of temperate and tropical seas, having flat pectoral fins continuous with the head, two dorsal fins, a short spineless tail, and a long snout

Word Origin for skate

C14: from Old Norse skata

British Dictionary definitions for skate (3 of 3)

skate³

/ (skeɪt) /

noun

US slang a person; fellow

Word Origin for skate

from Scottish and northern English dialect skate, a derogatory term of uncertain origin

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

Idioms and Phrases with skate

skate

In addition to the idiom beginning with skate

skate over

also see:

cheap skate
on thin ice, skate

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WORD OF THE DAY

skate

noun

verb (used without object), skat·ed, skat·ing.

verb (used with object), skat·ed, skat·ing.