skater

American  

[skey-ter] / ˈskeɪ tər /

noun

1. a person who skates.

2. water strider.

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skater British  

/ ˈskeɪtə /

noun

1. a person who skates

2. same as skateboarder See skateboarder

3. informal a young person who typically wears baggy clothes and spends a lot of time skateboarding

4. See pond-skater

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Etymology

Origin of skater

First recorded in 1690–1700; skate ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

But it wasn’t immediately clear whether there would be something to pull it and lift it up, “like a figure skater drawing their arms in,” making it faster, he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu, freshly gold-medaled and halo-haired, has captured America’s heart.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

Liu’s skate, which won her the individual gold medal, the first U.S. women’s skater do so since 2002, is already Winter Olympics legend.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

The skater known as the "Quad God" had been favourite to win the men's individual title but tumbled to a humiliating eighth spot after the free skate.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

Every time I tried to concentrate, my mind glided off, like a skater, into a large empty space, and pirouetted there, absently.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath