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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

skip.

To move by hopping on alternate feet.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/skɪp/
  1. To move by hopping on alternate feet.

    intransitive
    She will skip from one end of the sidewalk to the other.
  2. To leap about lightly.

    intransitive
  3. To skim, ricochet or bounce over a surface.

    intransitive
    The rock will skip across the pond.
  4. To throw (something), making it skim, ricochet, or bounce over a surface.

    transitive
    I bet I can skip this rock to the other side of the pond.
  5. To disregard, miss or omit part of a continuation (some item or stage).

    transitive
    My heart will skip a beat.
    He skipped the second question and moved on.
  6. Not to attend (some event, especially a class or a meeting).

    informal · transitive
    Yeah, I really should go to the quarterly meeting but I think I'm going to skip it.
  7. To leave, especially in a sudden and covert manner.

    informal · transitive
    to skip the country
    a customer who skipped town without paying her hotel bill
  8. To leap lightly over.

    to skip the rope
  9. To jump rope.

    The girls were skipping in the playground.
  10. To cause the stylus to jump back to the previous loop of the record's groove, continuously repeating that part of the sound, as a result of excessive scratching or wear. (of a phonograph record)

  11. To pass by a stitch as if it were not there, continuing with the next stitch.

  12. To have insufficient ink transfer.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, throw, shake”). Related to Icelandic skopa (“to take a run”), Old Swedish skuppa (“to skip”), modern dialectal Swedish skopa, skimpa (“to skip, leap”), and English shove. See also dialectal English skimp (“to mock”) (Etymology 1), considered by some to be related.

noun/skɪp/
  1. A leaping or jumping movement; the action of one who skips.

  2. The act of passing over an interval from one thing to another; an omission of a part.

  3. The act of passing over an interval from one thing to another; an omission of a part. A trick allowing the player to proceed to a later section of the game without playing through a section that was intended to be mandatory.

  4. A passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once.

  5. A person who attempts to disappear so as not to be found.

  6. skywave propagation

  7. A song, typically one on an album, that is not worth listening to.

    informal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English skippen, skyppen, of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skupjaną, perhaps related to *skeubaną (“to drive, push”), iterative *skuppōną (“to push/move repeatedly, skip”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ- (“to push, throw, shake”). Related to Icelandic skopa (“to take a run”), Old Swedish skuppa (“to skip”), modern dialectal Swedish skopa, skimpa (“to skip, leap”), and English shove. See also dialectal English skimp (“to mock”) (Etymology 1), considered by some to be related.

noun/skɪp/
  1. A large container for waste, designed to be lifted onto the back of a truck to remove it along with its contents, or to be picked up by hydraulic arms so that its contents can be dumped into the truck.

    Commonwealth · Ireland · UK
  2. A transportation container in a mine, usually for ore or mullock.

  3. A skip car.

  4. A skep, or basket, such as a creel or a handbasket.

    Scotland · UK · dialectal
  5. A wheeled basket chiefly used in textile factories.

  6. A charge of syrup in the pans.

  7. A beehive made of woven straw, wicker, etc.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English skep, skeppe, from Old English sceppe, from Old Norse skeppa, skjappa (“basket, bushel, measure”), perhaps from Middle Low German scheppe (“a unit of weight”), perhaps related to Middle Low German schēpel (“buschel, measurement for grain”), German Scheffel (“bushel”). These could all ultimately be related to *skap (“shape”).

verb/skɪp/
  1. To place (an item) in a skip (large container for waste).

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English skep, skeppe, from Old English sceppe, from Old Norse skeppa, skjappa (“basket, bushel, measure”), perhaps from Middle Low German scheppe (“a unit of weight”), perhaps related to Middle Low German schēpel (“buschel, measurement for grain”), German Scheffel (“bushel”). These could all ultimately be related to *skap (“shape”).

noun/skɪp/
  1. Short for skipper, especially as (nautical) the master of a ship; (sports) a team captain; (UK, law enforcement) a detective sergeant; or any other person with similar moderate authority.

    abbreviation · alt-of · informal
  2. The player who calls the shots and traditionally throws the last two rocks.

  3. The captain of a bowls team, who directs the team's tactics and rolls the side's last wood, so as to be able to retrieve a difficult situation if necessary.

  4. The scoutmaster of a troop of scouts (youth organization).

    informal
Where this word comes from

Late Middle English skipper, borrowed from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German schipper (“captain”), earlier "seaman", from schip (“ship”).

verb/skɪp/
  1. To act as skipper, or captain, of a team.

Where this word comes from

Late Middle English skipper, borrowed from Middle Dutch and Middle Low German schipper (“captain”), earlier "seaman", from schip (“ship”).

noun/skɪp/
  1. An Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent.

    Australia · slang
Where this word comes from

A reference to the television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo; coined and used by Australians (particularly children) of non-British descent to counter derogatory terms aimed at them. Ultimately from etymology 1 (above).

noun/skɪp/
  1. A college servant.

    historical
Where this word comes from

17th-century Ireland. Possibly a clipping of skip-kennel (“young lackey or assistant”). Used at Trinity College Dublin.

noun/skɪp/
  1. A skip-level manager; the boss of one's boss.

    slang
    My skip is helpful when my team lead is being uptight.
Where this word comes from

Clipping of skip-level manager.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.