Skim vs Peruse - What's the difference?

In transitive terms the difference between skim and peruse

is that skim is to clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially the cream that floats on top of fresh milk while peruse is to read completely.

As verbs the difference between skim and peruse

is that skim is to pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface while peruse is to examine or consider with care.

As an adjective skim

is having lowered fat content.

As a noun peruse is

an examination or perusal; an instance of perusing.

skim

English

Verb

(skimm)

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

* Alexander Pope

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, / Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.

To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.

* Hazlitt

Homer describes Mercury as flinging himself from the top of Olympus, and skimming the surface of the ocean.

To hasten along with superficial attention.

* I. Watts

They skim over a science in a very superficial survey.

To put on a finishing coat of plaster.

to throw an object so it bounces on water (skimming stones )

to ricochet

to read quickly, skipping some detail

I skimmed the newspaper over breakfast.

to scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface

to clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying on it, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface.

to skim''' milk; to '''skim broth

to clear a liquid from (scum or substance floating or lying on it), especially the cream that floats on top of fresh milk

to skim cream

Derived terms

* skim through * skim over * skim off * skimmed milk * skimmer * semi-skimmed

Adjective

(-)

(of milk) Having lowered fat content.

Derived terms

* skim milk

peruse

English

Noun

(en noun)

An examination or perusal; an instance of perusing.

* 2008 , Dave Robson, " Hi-tea, low cost!", Evening Gazette online, September 12,

A peruse of the website looked promising

Verb

(perus)

To examine or consider with care.

* {{quote-book, 1847,

, passage=Sitting on a low stool, a few yards from her arm-chair, I examined her figure; I perused her features.}}

To read completely.

* {{quote-book, 1887,

, passage=We are for reasons that, after perusing this manuscript, you may be able to guess, going away again this time to Central Asia

(informal) To look over casually; to skim.

* {{quote-book, 2001, Doug Stanton, In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis, page=35 citation

, passage=Haynes quickly perused the message, then took it to the captain on the bridge. }}

* {{quote-book, 2005, , Acid Alex, page=98 citation

, passage=She asked Denise for the court file, which she fussed from her handbag. The woman perused it briefly and then beamed up at me.}}

(regional) To go from place to place; to wander.

* {{quote-book, 1957, , The Old Man And The Boy, page=55 citation

, passage=I loved to straggle off in the mornings

Usage notes

* The sense of "skimming" is proscribed by some authorities on usage, including the Oxford American Dictionary''. The shift, however, is not dissimilar to that found in (scan). The ''Oxford English Dictionary further notes that the word was used as a general synonym for (read) as far back as the 16th century.

Derived terms

* perusable * perusal * peruser

Anagrams

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