skim

Definition

To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.

Etymology

From Middle English skemen, skymen, variants of scumen, from Old French escumer (“to remove scum”), from escume (“froth, foam”), from Frankish *skūm (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Germanic *skūmaz (“foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *skew- (“to cover, conceal”). See scum.

Example Sentences

• "Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main."
• "Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean."
• "They skim over a science in a very night superficial survey."