skateboard

American  

[skeyt-bawrd, -bohrd] / ˈskeɪtˌbɔrd, -ˌboʊrd /

noun

skateboards plural

1. a device for riding upon, usually while standing, consisting of a short, oblong piece of wood, plastic, fiberglass, or aluminum mounted on large roller-skate wheels, used on smooth surfaces and requiring better balance on the part of the rider than ordinary roller skates do.

   Skateboards were pretty “primitive” back in the sixties.

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verb (used without object)

skateboards, present (3rd person singular) skateboarded, past participle, past skateboarding present participle

1. to ride a skateboard.

   She skateboarded during her lunch break nearly every day.

skateboard British  

/ ˈskeɪtˌbɔːd /

noun

1. a narrow board mounted on roller-skate wheels, usually ridden while standing up

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verb

1. (intr) to ride on a skateboard

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• skateboarder
  noun
• skateboarding
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• skateboards
  plural

Participles

• skateboarding
  present
• skateboarded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• skateboard
  simple
• skateboards
  simple
• have skateboarded
  perfect
• has skateboarded
  perfect
• am skateboarding
  progressive
• are skateboarding
  progressive
• is skateboarding
  progressive
• have been skateboarding
  perfect progressive
• has been skateboarding
  perfect progressive

Past

• skateboarded
  simple
• had skateboarded
  perfect
• was skateboarding
  progressive
• were skateboarding
  progressive
• had been skateboarding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will skateboard
  simple
• will have skateboarded
  perfect
• will be skateboarding
  progressive
• will have been skateboarding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of skateboard

First recorded in 1960–65; skate ¹ + board

Explanation

A skateboard is a board with wheels on the bottom that you ride standing up. If you practice enough, you'll be able to do tricks on your skateboard, or at least ride down the block without falling off. When you ride your skateboard, you can say that you skateboard or skate. The sport or activity you do on a skateboard is skateboarding. The first skateboards, consisting of boxes or boards fitted with wheels from roller skates, appeared in the 1940s. The earliest skateboarders were surfers who wanted a way to practice even when they were on dry land—because of this, they were sometimes called "sidewalk surfers."

Example Sentences

Her older sons were close to the median, one on a skateboard and the other on skates, as the two cars seemingly accelerated and descended on them, she said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

Agents took cellphones and laptops, as well as T-shirts and skateboard decks with the logo for VC Defensa, a volunteer-based group that has been documenting immigration raids and detentions in Ventura County.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

"He'd stuff in her garage including a skateboard and a workbench and he'd come looking them back."

From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026

Like a skateboard built out of roller skates, “Vivien’s Wild Ride” is a collection of parts fashioned into something not quite streamlined, but moving.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

I hop off my electric skateboard, pull out its straps, and swing it over my shoulder so that it bumps against my backpack.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu