skim

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To remove floating matter from (a liquid).
2. v. To remove (floating matter) from a liquid.
3. v. To take away the choicest or most readily attainable contents or parts from.
4. v. To coat or cover with or as if with a thin layer, as of scum.
5. v. To throw so as to bounce or slide: skimming stones on the pond.
6. v. To glide or pass quickly and lightly over or along (a surface). See Synonyms at brush¹.
7. v. To read or glance through (a book, for example) quickly or superficially.
8. v. Slang To fail to declare part of (certain income, such as winnings) to avoid tax payment.
9. v. To move or pass swiftly and lightly over or near a surface; glide.
10. v. To give a quick and superficial reading, scrutiny, or consideration; glance: skimmed through the newspaper.
11. v. To become coated with a thin layer.
12. v. Slang To fail to declare certain income to avoid tax payment.
13. n. The act of skimming.
14. n. Something that has been skimmed.
15. n. A thin layer or film.
16. n. Slang The profit gained by skimming.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To lift the scum from; clear the surface of by removing any floating matter, by means of a spoon, a flat ladle, or the like: as, to skim soup by removing the oil or fat; to skim milk by taking off the cream.
2. To lift from the surface of a liquid by a sliding movement, as with a puddle, a flat ladle, a spoon, or the like; dip up with or as with a skimmer, as cream from milk or fat from soup; hence, to clear away; remove.
3. To clear; rid; free from obstacles or enemies.
4. To mow.
5. To cover with a film or scum; coat over.
6. To pass lightly along or near the surface of; move smoothly and lightly over; glide, float, fly, or run over the surface of.
7. To pass over lightly in perusal or inspection; glance over hastily or superficially.
8. To cause to dart, skip, or ricochet along a surface; hurl along a surface in a smooth, straight course.
9. To pass lightly and smoothly over a surface; hence, to glide or dart along in a smooth, even course.
10. To pass in hasty inspection or consideration, as over the surface of something; observe or consider lightly or superficially.
11. To become covered with a scum or film; be coated over.
12. n. The act of skimming; also, that which is skimmed off.
13. n. Thick matter that forms or collects on the surface of a liquor; scum.
14. In plastering, to put the finishing coat or skim-coat on.
15. n. A cultivator blade for surface work, analogous to a sweep. See scalp, 7, and sweep, 12 .

Wiktionary

1. v. To throw an object so it bounces on water (skimming stones).
2. v. To ricochet.
3. v. To read quickly, skipping some detail.
4. v. To scrape off; to remove (something) from a surface
5. adj. Having lowered fat content.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To clear (a liquid) from scum or substance floating or lying thereon, by means of a utensil that passes just beneath the surface
2. v. To take off by skimming.
3. v. To pass near the surface of; to brush the surface of; to glide swiftly along the surface of.
4. v. Fig.: To read or examine superficially and rapidly, in order to cull the principal facts or thoughts.
5. v. To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface.
6. v. To hasten along with superficial attention.
7. v. To put on the finishing coat of plaster.
8. adj. Contraction of skimming and skimmed.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a thin layer covering the surface of a liquid
2. v. coat (a liquid) with a layer
3. v. move or pass swiftly and lightly over the surface of
4. v. cause to skip over a surface
5. adj. used of milk and milk products from which the cream has been removed
6. v. examine hastily
7. v. travel on the surface of water
8. v. remove from the surface
9. v. read superficially
10. n. reading or glancing through quickly