- a person who skates
- same as skateboarder
See skateboarder - Brit informal a young person who typically wears baggy clothes and spends a lot of time skateboarding
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
skat•er
(skā′tər),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who skates.
- See water strider.
- skate1 + -er1 1690–1700
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
skater /ˈskeɪtə/ n
skate1 /skeɪt/USA pronunciation
n., v., skat•ed, skat•ing.
n. [countable]
v.
skate2 /skeɪt/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. (esp. when thought of as a group) skate, (esp. for kinds or species) skates.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026n. [countable]
- Sportice skate (def. 1)
- Sportroller skate.
v.
- to move oneself on skates:[no object]skating at the ice rink.
- Slang Terms to do something, esp. one's work, in an overly relaxed or superficial way:[no object]He skated through his assignments and handed in the bare minimum.
- to perform by skating:[~ + object]skated a perfect program.
skate2 /skeɪt/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. (esp. when thought of as a group) skate, (esp. for kinds or species) skates.
- Fisha fish, a ray, with winglike fins.
skate1
(skāt),USA pronunciation n., v., skat•ed, skat•ing.
n.
v.i.
v.t.
skate′a•ble, adj.
skate2 (skāt),USA pronunciation n., pl. (esp. collectively) skate, (esp. referring to two or more kinds or species) skates.
skate3 (skāt),USA pronunciation n. [Slang.]
n.
- SportSee ice skate (def. 1).
- SportSee roller skate.
- Sportthe blade of an ice skate.
- Nautical, Naval Termsa skid on a lifeboat to facilitate launching from a listing ship.
- British Terms get or put one's skates on, to make haste.
v.i.
- to glide or propel oneself over ice, the ground, etc., on skates.
- to glide or slide smoothly along.
- Slang Termsto shirk one's duty;
loaf. - Sound Reproduction(of the tone arm on a record player) to swing toward the spindle while a record is playing.
v.t.
- to slide (a flat) across the floor of a stage.
- skate on thin ice, to be or place oneself in a risky or delicate situation:Taking a public stand on the question would be skating on thin ice.
- ?
- Dutch schaats (singular) skate, Middle Dutch schaetse stilt (compare Medieval Latin scatia)
- origin, originally plural scates 1640–50
skate2 (skāt),USA pronunciation n., pl. (esp. collectively) skate, (esp. referring to two or more kinds or species) skates.
- Fishany of several rays of the genus Raja, usually having a pointed snout, as R. binoculata (big skate,) inhabiting waters along the Pacific coast of the U.S., growing to a length of 8 ft. (2.4 m).
- Old Norse skati
- Middle English scate 1300–50
skate3 (skāt),USA pronunciation n. [Slang.]
- Slang Termsa person;
fellow:He's a good skate. - Slang Termsa contemptible person.
- Slang Termsan inferior, decrepit horse;
nag.
- perh. special use of skate2
'skater' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
axel
- Curry
- figure skating
- free skating
- Henie
- in-line skate
- loop
- roller skate
- salchow
- sensational
- Albright
- boot
- button
- compulsory
- evolution
- Fleming
- glide
- Hamill
- Heiden
- Heiss
- lift
- Lutz
- Lynn
- toe loop
- school figure
- Scott
- sit spin
- slide
- spread eagle