skimp

skimp

English

WOTD – 26 October 2009

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /skɪmp/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmp

Etymology 1

Perhaps of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną. Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”).

Verb

skimp (third-person singular simple present skimps, present participle skimping, simple past and past participle skimped)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) To mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of.

   I thought Adie was only skimpin' me.

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Verb

skimp (third-person singular simple present skimps, present participle skimping, simple past and past participle skimped)

1. (transitive) To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.
2. To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.
3. (intransitive) To save; to be parsimonious or stingy.

Quotations

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:skimp.

Related terms

• skimpily
• skimpy

Translations

to slight; to do carelessly; to scamp

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: odbýt (cs), odfláknout Finnish: pinnata (fi)

German: nachlässig erledigen, (colloquial) schludern (de) Italian: sottovalutare (it) Russian: халту́рить (ru) (xaltúritʹ) Turkish: baştan savma yapmak, savsaklamak (tr)

to make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp

Czech: šetřit (cs), omezovat (cs) Finnish: pihistellä (fi), pihdata, pihtailla, nuukailla French: lésiner (fr) German: knausern (de)

Italian: lesinare (it) Maori: matatoua Norwegian: spinke, knipe Russian: скупиться (ru) (skupitʹsja) Turkish: az vermek, cimrilik etmek (tr), kısmak (tr)

to save; to be parsimonious or stingy

Czech: šetřit (cs), škudlit Dutch: beknibbelen (nl) Finnish: pihistellä (fi), pihdata, pihtailla, nuukailla German: knapp halten, (colloquial) knausern (de) Italian: lesinare (it) Maori: matatoua

Norwegian: spinke Russian: скупиться (ru) (skupitʹsja), экономить (ru) (ekonomitʹ) Spanish: escatimar (es) Swedish: snåla (sv) Turkish: cimrilik etmek (tr)

Adjective

skimp (comparative more skimp, superlative most skimp)

1. (dated, Britain, dialectal or US, colloquial) Scanty.

Noun

skimp (plural skimps)

1. A skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing.
   • 2007, George Ella Lyon, With a Hammer for my Heart, p. 192:

     I remembered how fierce it hurt and how it blistered. All that pain from just a skimp of flesh.

2. (in the plural, colloquial) Underwear.
   • 2007, Zoo Today:

     While presenting a rundown of the sexiest soap stars in the world in this week's ZOO, Hollyoaks' Gemma Atkinson very kindly stripped down to her skimps herself.