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Skim vs Skimp - What's the difference?

skim | skimp |

As verbs the difference between skim and skimp

is that skim is to pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface while skimp is to slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.

As adjectives the difference between skim and skimp

is that skim is having lowered fat content while skimp is scanty.

As a noun skimp is

a skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing.

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

    skimp

    English

    Verb

  • To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.
  • To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.
  • To save; to be parsimonious or stingy.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "skimp")

    Related terms

    * skimpily * skimpy

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (dated, UK, dialect, or, US, colloquial) Scanty.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing.
  • * 2007 , George Ella Lyon, With a Hammer for my Heart , p. 192:
    • I remembered how fierce it hurt and how it blistered. All that pain from just a skimp of flesh.
  • (in the plural, colloquial) Underwear.
  • * 2007 , Zoo Today:
    • While presenting a rundown of the sexiest soap stars in the world in this week's ZOO, Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson very kindly stripped down to her skimps herself.