skip

SKIP/skɪp/

Verbskips, skipping, skipped

Noun pluralskips

27 meanings of skip

Practice

1
leave outverbtransitive
To leave out one part or step and go straight on to the next one.
Like jumping over one stone in a line instead of stepping on it.
Let's skip the boring chapter and read the next one.
She skipped page ten by mistake.
UsageUse skip to for where you go next: skip to the next chapter.
Similaromit, bypass, drop
Oppositeinclude, complete
Note
2
not attendverbcolloquialtransitive
To stay away from a class or meeting you were supposed to attend.
He decided to skip school to go to the beach.
She skipped practice because she felt sick.
UsageSay skip class or skip school.
Similarmiss, cut, ditch
Oppositeattend
3
leap aboutverbintransitive
To move along with light, bouncing jumps, hopping from one foot to the other, or to jump lightly over something.
Like a happy little hop from foot to foot.
The children skip and twirl around the room with joy.
She skipped about happily after hearing the news.
UsageSay where: the kids skipped down the road.
Similarhop
Note
4
bounce acrossverbintransitive
To bounce across water or the ground, or to throw a flat stone so it does this.
Like a flat stone bouncing along the top of water.
Flat stones skip across the calm pond.
The bullet skipped off the hard ground.
UsageA stone skips on water. You can also skip stones.
Similarbounce, skim, skitter
Note
5
nouncountable
An act or way of leaving out or going past part of something, as in a video game.
Like jumping over a step instead of taking it.
The skip from chapter one to chapter five confused readers.
With a quick skip over the intro, we got to the main part.
Similarshortcut, jump, omission
6
leave secretlyverbcolloquialtransitive
To leave a place suddenly and secretly.
The thieves decided to skip town before the police arrived.
He skipped the country to avoid his debts.
UsagePeople say someone skipped town to get away from trouble.
Similarflee, leave
Note
7
leap aboutnouncountable
A light jump or hop.
Like a small, happy jump.
She gave a little skip when she heard the good news.
The child crossed the yard with a cheerful skip.
Similarhop, jump, bound, leap, caper
8
curling captainnouncountable
In curling or bowls, the team leader who tells the others what to do and usually plays last.
Like the captain who decides the plan and takes the most important shot.
The skip told her teammates exactly where to aim.
As skip, he threw the last two rocks to win the end.
Similarcaptain, skipper
Note

Less common meanings

9
verbtransitive or intransitive
Of a moving part like a disc or chain, to jump or slip and miss or repeat a bit.
This old DVD always starts to skip right in the middle of the movie.
My bike chain skips every time I try to ride up a hill.
Similarjump, slip
10
waste containernounCommonwealthIrelandUKcountable
In British use, a large open metal container for waste, which a truck lifts and carries away.
Like a giant open box for trash that a truck takes away.
We hired a skip to clear out the garden rubbish.
The builders filled the skip with broken bricks.
UsageIn American English, say dumpster.
Similardumpster
Note
11
jump ropeverbintransitive
To jump over a rope that is swung under your feet again and again.
Like jumping again and again over a swinging rope.
My sister can skip rope fifty times without stopping.
She skipped for ten minutes as a warm-up.
UsageSay the children are skipping. You do not need to say rope.
12
person in hidingnouncountable
Someone who runs away and hides so that people cannot find them.
Like someone who hides so well that no one can find them.
The investigator spent weeks tracking down the skip.
Bill collectors hired someone to find the skip who owed thousands.
Similarfugitive, absconder, runaway
Note
13
ship captainnouncolloquialcountable
An informal word for the captain of a boat or team, or anyone in charge.
The skip ordered everyone back to shore before dark.
The skip of the fishing boat told us to put on life jackets.
Similarskipper, captain, boss, chief, leader
Note
14
bad songnouncolloquialcountable
A song, usually on an album, that is not good enough to bother listening to.
Like a song you always jump over to reach a better one.
Track four is a total skip for me.
I like this album, but the last song is a skip.
UsagePeople praise a good album by saying it has no skips.
Similardud, filler, clunker, stinker
Oppositebanger, standout, highlight
15
boss's bossnounslangcountable
The boss of your own boss: the manager one step higher up.
Like talking to the principal when your own teacher cannot help.
My skip approved the budget after my own manager signed off.
She went straight to her skip when her boss ignored the problem.
UsageUsually used with a possessive word like my skip or her skip.
Note
16
throw outverbtransitive
To put something into a large metal box for trash that a truck lifts and takes away.
Similardump, bin, scrap, discard
Oppositesalvage, keep
17
scout leadernouncolloquialcountable
The adult leader of a scout troop, and the name the scouts use when speaking to him.
Like calling your team coach by a short nickname that everyone uses.
The skip showed the younger scouts how to pitch a tent.
"Can we light the fire now, Skip?" the boys asked.
UsageUse a capital when you call him Skip.
Similarscoutmaster
Note
18
note jumpnouncountable
A move from one note to another that jumps over the notes in between.
Like hopping over a step on a staircase instead of taking each one.
The tune has a big skip from a low note to a high one.
Beginners find a wide skip harder to sing than a small step.
Similarleap, jump
Oppositestep
Note
19
radio bouncenoununcountable
The way a radio signal bounces off the upper air and travels far past the horizon.
Like skipping a stone across water: the signal bounces off the sky and lands far away.
On a good night, skip let us hear a station a thousand miles away.
Strong skip carried the broadcast across the ocean.
Similarskywave
Note
20
mine bucketnouncountable
A big box in a mine that carries rock up a shaft or along rails.
Like a giant bucket that hauls rocks out of a deep mine.
They tipped the ore from the skip onto the conveyor belt.
Each skip held about two tons of broken rock.
Note
21
Australian (British roots)nounslangAustraliacountable
An Australian whose family came originally from Britain or Ireland.
The new player called himself a skip, born and raised in Sydney.
Half the team were skips, and the rest had families from overseas.
UsageIt can be friendly teasing, but it can also hurt.
SimilarAnglo
Note
22
verb
Of a printer or press, to lay down too little ink, so parts come out faint.
23
noundialectalScotlandUK
A basket.
24
noun
A basket on wheels for carrying things in cloth mills.
25
noun
An amount of syrup put into a pan to boil.
26
noun
A basket-like home for bees, woven from straw or wicker.
27
noun
A worker who cleans students' rooms at a college.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of skip apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–7, 9, 11–12, 14, 18–19

From Middle English skippen, a word of North Germanic origin meaning to leap or move quickly. It is related to English shove.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Skip derives from Middle English skippen and has North Germanic origins. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English skippen meant to leap or move quickly. en.wikisource.org
Skip is related to English shove. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 10, 16, 20

English borrowed Old Norse skeppa, meaning a basket or measure, as sceppe in Old English. The Middle English form was skep.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English borrowed Old Norse skeppa as Old English sceppe. en.wiktionary.org
Old Norse skeppa meant a basket or measure. en.wiktionary.org
Skep was a Middle English form. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 8, 13, 17

From late Middle English skipper, borrowed from Dutch and Low German words for a ship's captain, from schip ("ship").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Skip derives from late Middle English skipper. en.wiktionary.org
Skipper was borrowed from Dutch and Low German words meaning a ship's captain. en.wiktionary.org
The source word derives from schip, meaning ship. en.wikipedia.org

Meaning 21

From the TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. It was used by Australians, especially children of non-British descent, to answer insults aimed at them.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

This sense derives from the television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. en.wiktionary.org
Australians of non-British descent, especially children, used the term. history.cass.anu.edu.au
They used the term to answer insults directed at them. history.cass.anu.edu.au

Meaning 15

A shortening of skip-level manager.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Skip is a shortening of skip-level manager. en.wiktionary.org