skimmer
Americannoun
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skimmers
plural
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a person or thing that skims: an adept stone skimmer.
skimmers who just glance at the text;
an adept stone skimmer.
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a shallow utensil, usually perforated, used in skimming liquids.
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an electronic device used surreptitiously to appropriate information from the magnetic strip on a credit or debit card for illegal use.
Authorities have verified that skimmers were secretly installed at several local gas pumps.
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any of several gull-like birds of the family Rynchopidae, that skim the water with the elongated lower mandible immersed while in search of food.
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a stiff, wide-brimmed hat with a shallow flat crown, usually made of straw.
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a woman's A-line dress with side darts that shape it slightly to the body.
noun
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a person or thing that skims
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any of several mainly tropical coastal aquatic birds of the genus Rhynchops, having long narrow wings and a bill with an elongated lower mandible for skimming food from the surface of the water: family Rynchopidae, order Charadriiformes
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a flat perforated spoon used for skimming fat from liquids
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of skimmer
First recorded in 1350–1400; skim + -er 1; replacing Middle English skemour, skymour, variants of schumour, from Middle French (e)scumoir “ladle for skimming”; see scum
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:
On a chilly day in March, a twice-deported Romanian national walked into a 7-Eleven in Toledo, Ohio, and secretly affixed a device called a skimmer to a credit card machine, prosecutors say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The Navy has also kept a skimmer on standby so it can remove any pollutants quickly.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
Fry a few pakoras at a time for 5 to 7 minutes, turning the pakora occasionally with a skimmer or slotted spoon to promote even browning.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2023
When shoppers make a purchase with their EBT card at one of these machines, the skimmer would retain both the card number and the PIN.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2023
She had to duck into the grass once more as another river skimmer passed.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
So far, 70 sweeps have yielded 694 skimmers, the agency said, preventing an estimated $720 million in fraud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The most widespread practice was that of the so-called "salary skimmers" -- lawmakers who take a cut of their employees' pay.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
In addition, Trans Mountain paid on behalf of its shippers for dozens of additional oil skimmers, landing craft, response barges and to hire more spill response staff at multiple bases between Vancouver Harbour and Ucluelet.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
But seven hours later, to her surprise, she was crowned the queen of skimmers.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2023
Tonight, there weren’t any river skimmers out to disturb the darkness, and Shay was practicing moves on her board when Tally walked up.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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.
