skates

Noun (1)

skate (plural skates)

1. 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.
   • They open or shut, according as the foot to which the skate is attached moves downwards or upwards and the swimmer advances by the alternate motion of his limbs, as in mounting a stair, keeping the body and head inclined a little forward, as in skating.1847, editorial staff, “Swimming Skate”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 68
2. The act of skateboarding
   • There's time for a quick skate before dinner.
3. The act of roller skating or ice skating
   • The boys had a skate every morning when the lake was frozen.
4. (Philippines, chiefly Bicol) A makeshift handcar.

Noun (2)

skate (plural skates or skate)

1. 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.
   • The fishermen crowding in the cafés were also waiting for the end of the storm, when the fish, reassured, would rise to the surface after the bait. Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions. Day was now breaking.1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi...

Noun (3)

skate (plural skates)

1. A worn-out horse, a nag, a jade.

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