skimp

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /skɪmp/

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪmp

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”).

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.

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

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.

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

• skimpily
• skimpy

skimp (comparative more skimp, superlative most skimp)

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

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.