Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To deal with hastily, carelessly, or with poor material.
  • intransitive verb To provide for or supply inadequately; be stingy with.
  • intransitive verb To be stingy or very thrifty.
  • adjective Scanty; skimpy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Scant in quantity or extent; scarcely sufficient; meager; spare: as, skimp fare; a skimp outfit.
  • To deal scant measure to; supply with a meager or insufficient allowance: as, to skimp a person in the matter of food.
  • To provide in scant or insufficient quantity; give or deal out sparingly; stint: as, to skimp cloth or food.
  • To scamp; slight; do superficially or carelessly: as, to skimp a job.
  • To be sparing or parsimonious; economize; save.
  • To scamp work.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S. To save; to be parsimonious or niggardly.
  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S. To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.
  • transitive verb Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S. To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.
  • adjective Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S. Scanty.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To slight; to do carelessly; to scamp.
  • verb To make insufficient allowance for; to scant; to scrimp.
  • verb To save; to be parsimonious or stingy.
  • adjective dated, UK, colloquial Scanty.
  • noun A skimpy or insubstantial thing, especially a piece of clothing.
  • noun in the plural, colloquial Underwear.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb work hastily or carelessly; deal with inadequately and superficially
  • verb limit in quality or quantity
  • verb supply sparingly and with restricted quantities
  • verb subsist on a meager allowance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete skimp, scanty, perhaps from alteration of scrimp.]

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Examples

  • Let's hope the screenwriter goes off the novel and doesn't just skimp from the comic books.

    Benderspink to Adapt The Straw Men | /Film 2008

  • When it comes to fan films, one of the places that even the biggest productions skimp is the music.

    2007 April | Fan Cinema Today 2007

  • When it comes to fan films, one of the places that even the biggest productions skimp is the music.

    Fan Film Review: Lord of the Rings: The Sons of Elrond | Fan Cinema Today 2007

  • Both the residents and developers agree, the unique blend of businesses means you can splurge or skimp, which is what keeps many coming back.

    Dallas / Fort Worth news, weather, sports, traffic and video from cbs11tv.com 2010

  • So if you use a 50 but kind of skimp on it, you'll be getting a 15 or a 30.

    CNN Transcript Jun 7, 2003 2003

  • But White House economist Austan Goolsbee said it was important not to "skimp" on important investments like education.

    Reuters: Top News 2011

  • Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Obama is willing to make difficult choices on spending cuts when he unveils his budget next month but also said it was important not to "skimp" on investments like education.

    Reuters: Top News 2011

  • But White House economist Austan Goolsbee said it was important not to "skimp" on important investments like education.

    Reuters: Top News 2011

  • I liked the chatter about "Don't Skimp" so much that I thought maybe we should check out what maybe you could "skimp" on.

    ChicagoNow 2010

  • I gather by "skimp" they mean to cheap out -- to opt for price even when it means a significant reduction in quality.

    unknown title 2009

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