Skip

/skɪp/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A leaping or jumping movement; the action of one who skips.
  • Grammar: skip is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: abandon, abscond, absented, absquatulate.
  • Useful contrasts: completed activity sheet, educational pond ecosystem, egyptian pyramids study.
  • Usage evidence: My physics teacher doesn't care if I skip classes.

How to use "skip"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "skip" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "skip" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "skip" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "skip" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "skip" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "abandon" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "skip", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A leaping or jumping movement; the action of one who skips.
  2. 2
    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
  3. 3
    A skipper; the master or captain of a ship, or other person in authority. often
  4. 4
    An Australian of Anglo-Celtic descent. Australia, often, slang

    "2001, Effie (character played by Mary Coustas), Effie: Just Quietly (TV series), Episode: Nearest and Dearest, Effie: How did you find the second, the defacto, and what nationality is she? Barber: She is Australian. Effie: Is she? Gone for a skip. You little radical you."

  5. 5
    A college servant. historical, often

    "Behind the Counter stood a complaisant Spark, who I observ'd shew'd as much Breeding in the sale of a Penny-worth of Tobacco, and the change of a Shilling, as a Courtier's Footman when he meets his Brother Skip in the middle of Covent-Garden; and is so very dexterous in discharge of his Occupation, the he guesses from a Pound of Tobacco to an Ounce to the certainty of one Corn […]"

Show 19 more definitions
  1. 6
    A skip-level manager; the boss of one's boss. often, slang

    "My skip is helpful when my team lead is being uptight."

  2. 7
    a mistake resulting from neglect wordnet
  3. 8
    The act of passing over an interval from one thing to another; an omission of a part.
  4. 9
    A transportation container in a mine, usually for ore or mullock.

    "Beside it was a great engine which worked a continuous steel rope on which the skips were fastened which drew up the débris by successive stages from the bottom of the shaft."

  5. 10
    A skipper; the master or captain of a ship, or other person in authority.; The captain of a sports team. often
  6. 11
    a gait in which steps and hops alternate wordnet
  7. 12
    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.
  8. 13
    A skip car.
  9. 14
    The player who calls the shots and traditionally throws the last two rocks. often
  10. 15
    A passage from one sound to another by more than a degree at once.
  11. 16
    A skep, or basket, such as a creel or a handbasket. Scotland, UK, dialectal

    "In a panic he pushed the prostesting Catweazle inside an empty clothes skip and sat down on the lid just as his father and Sam came in."

  12. 17
    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. often
  13. 18
    A person who attempts to disappear so as not to be found.

    "Tracking down debtors is a big part of a skip tracer's job. That's the case because deadbeats who haven't paid their bills and have disappeared are the most common type of skips."

  14. 19
    A wheeled basket chiefly used in textile factories.
  15. 20
    The scoutmaster of a troop of scouts (youth organization). informal, often
  16. 21
    skywave propagation
  17. 22
    A charge of syrup in the pans.
  18. 23
    A song, typically one on an album, that is not worth listening to. informal
  19. 24
    A beehive made of woven straw, wicker, etc.
Verb
  1. 1
    To move by hopping on alternate feet. intransitive

    "She will skip from one end of the sidewalk to the other."

  2. 2
    To place an item in a skip (etymology 2, sense 1). transitive
  3. 3
    bypass wordnet
  4. 4
    To leap about lightly. intransitive

    "The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day, / Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?"

  5. 5
    cause to skip over a surface wordnet
Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    To skim, ricochet or bounce over a surface. intransitive

    "The rock will skip across the pond."

  2. 7
    bound off one point after another wordnet
  3. 8
    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."

  4. 9
    jump lightly wordnet
  5. 10
    To disregard, miss or omit part of a continuation (some item or stage). transitive

    "My heart will skip a beat."

  6. 11
    leave suddenly wordnet
  7. 12
    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."

  8. 13
    intentionally fail to attend wordnet
  9. 14
    To leave, especially in a sudden and covert manner. informal, transitive

    "to skip the country"

  10. 15
    To leap lightly over.

    "to skip the rope"

  11. 16
    To jump rope.

    "The girls were skipping in the playground."

  12. 17
    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)
  13. 18
    To pass by a stitch as if it were not there, continuing with the next stitch.
  14. 19
    To have insufficient ink transfer.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from Old Norse.

Synonyms

All synonyms
abandonabscondabsentedabsquatulateambleand jump

Antonyms

completed activity sheeteducational pond ecosystemegyptian pyramids studylinguistic development study

Example

"My physics teacher doesn't care if I skip classes."

Common questions

What does "skip" mean?

A leaping or jumping movement; the action of one who skips.

What is a synonym for "skip"?

Common synonyms include: abandon, abscond, absented, absquatulate, amble, and jump.

How do you use "skip" in a sentence?

My physics teacher doesn't care if I skip classes.

How do you pronounce "skip"?

Pronounced /skɪp/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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”).

Etymology 3

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

Etymology 4

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).

Etymology 5

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

Etymology 6

Clipping of skip-level manager.

More for "skip"

Synonyms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsBrowse writing guidesExplore topic clusters