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skate

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Roller skating or ice skating.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

skayt
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈskeɪt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. To move along a surface (ice or ground) using skates.

    “The Dutch often skate along the canals in winter.”

  2. To move smoothly and easily.

  3. To skateboard.

noun

  1. The act of roller skating or ice skating

  2. A runner or blade, usually of steel, with a frame shaped to fit the sole of a shoe, made to be fastened under the foot, and used for gliding on ice.

  3. A light boot, fitted with a blade, used for ice skating.

  4. A worn-out horse.

  5. A boot having small wheels or casters attached to its sole; used for roller skating.

  6. A fish of the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea (rays) which inhabit most seas. Skates generally have small heads with protruding muzzles, and wide fins attached to a flat body.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: The act of roller skating or ice skating

Used this way, skate is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use skate

  • “The Dutch often skate along the canals in winter.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Roller / boot

skate parkright skate

Other combinations

roller skateice skateskate rentalline skateskate blade

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • skatingnounInflected form

    The sport of gliding on skates.

  • skaternounInflected form

    Someone who skates.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • skate oververbCompound term

    Treat hurriedly or avoid dealing with properly.

  • skating rinknounCompound term

    Building that contains a surface for ice skating or roller skating.

  • ice-skaternounCompound term

    Someone who engages in ice skating.

  • ice skatenounCompound term

    Skate consisting of a boot with a steel blade fitted to the sole.

  • in-line skatenounCompound term

    A shoe with a line of rollers fixed to the sole.

  • little skatenounCompound term

    Most plentiful skate in North American inshore waters in summer.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.