verb
skate
skayt
verb
1
To glide over ice or a hard surface wearing skates.
"The children skated across the frozen pond all afternoon."
2
To avoid serious consequences for something you clearly did wrong.
"He skated on the charge thanks to a technicality."
noun
1
A flat-bodied fish related to rays, found on the seabed in most oceans.
"The trawler brought in a large skate along with the cod."
How to Use Skate
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo glide on ice skates or a skateboard; informally, to get away with wrongdoing; or a type of flat sea fish.
Common pairings
ice skate
skate by
skate on thin ice
Word Forms
skated past tense, skates plural, skate plural, skates singular
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Etymology
From Dutch schaats, ultimately from an Old French word for a stilt, related to a Germanic root meaning "to shake" or "to move quickly."