1887 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S. 559 As soon as the oysters are opened they are placed in a flat pan with a perforated bottom, called a skimmer, where they are drained of their accompanying liquor.

1881 E. Ingersoll Oyster-industry (10th Census U.S.: Bureau of Fisheries) 248 Skimmer, the Cyprina islandica, or big beach clam. (South shore of Long Island.)

1891 in Cent. Dict.

1949 R. J. Sim Pages from Past 65 The big surf clam, or skimmer (Mactra solidissima Chemn.), lies bedded down in great colonies off shore.

1971 Petroleum Rev. May 203/2 (caption) The skimmer straddles the boom and the suction box is about to be immersed to suck up the oil floating on the surface of the water.

1976 M. Machlin Pipeline li. 516 Heavy duty floating skimmers will be deployed to recover as much oil as is feasible.

1977 Times 25 Apr. 1/4 A fleet of skimmers is steaming from Stavanger to suck up the oil and transfer it to waiting tankers.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Escumeur,..a scummer, or skimmer of liquor.

1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 23 Mar. 13/1 Some skimmers..give themselves away by keeping track of their true earnings. A New York dentist, for instance, devised a dot-dash code for his office records.

1978 S. Brill Teamsters vi. 241 The cash was being split, some to be counted for taxes and the rest to go to the skimmers.

1801 Farmer's Mag. Nov. 375 The hand-hoes destroy those that are too near the beans for this skimmer or horse-hoe.

1891 R. P. Chope Dial. Hartland, Devonshire 70 Skimmer, a hooked iron rod used by children for trundling iron hoops without striking them.

1953 L. Daiken Children's Toys iii. 38 In Victorian times the old-fashioned metal hoop was controlled by a ‘skimmer’, the vernacular name for the hook-and-handle apparatus held in the hand.

1961 Listener 12 Oct. 549/2 For boys they [sc. hoops] were of iron, driven along and steered by an iron hook we called a skimmer.

1979 This England Winter 66/3 The tool used to both drive and check the hoop had a hook at the end of a short length of steel with a wooden handle, and was called the ‘skimmer’.

1831 Fraser's Mag. 3 436 The poor skimmers over sea and land whom our friend so justly denounces.

1863 J. Hamilton Poems & Ess. 75 The cooing dove, the cawing rook, The skimmers of the lake and brook.

1893 J. H. McCarthy Red Diamonds II. 47 Skipper Borringer.., a persistent skimmer of the seas.

1844 Mrs. Houstoun Texas & Gulf of Mexico II. 235 Thou ‘Skimmer’ of the untamed sea.

1862 London Rev. & Weekly Jrnl. 16 Aug. 139 Only at the yachting stations will the tapering spars and the snowy wings of the skimmers of the seas be found.

1896 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 7/2 The skimmer..is the only type which can be driven at abnormal speeds with a small sail area.

1909 J. I. Thornycroft in Engineering 12 Mar. 365/1 Vessels which greatly reduce their displacement when travelling at high speeds are generally called ‘hydro~planes’, but this name is not altogether satisfactory, as the surfaces on which they glide are not always planes. To call such vessels ‘gliders’ or ‘skimmers’ has been suggested as more appropriate... The latter word will be used to describe boats which at high speeds are heavier than the water they displace.

1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 686/1 Elaborate experiments with small models following the lines of skimmers or hydroplanes.

1920 Yachting Monthly May 20/1 Owing to the fact that she was an unballasted skimmer she had an unfortunate habit of capsizing at moorings.

1945 J. J. Fahey Pacific War Diary 308 The General, Admiral, Captain and a few other officers left the ship in a skimmer for a picnic.

1967 (title) Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–8.

1971 Morning Star 30 Mar. 9/1 Soviet sea-going skimmers type Kometa-M are furnished with log, radio, radar and other navigation safety instruments.

1975 Sunday Mail Mag. (Brisbane) 22 June 5/1 They are not hovercraft or hydrofoils but ‘skimmers’—ships which can take off from the water and thunder along a few score cm above it, supported on huge airliner-type wings.

1830 J. F. Watson Ann. Philadelphia 176 Other articles of female wear..[include] a ‘skimmer hat’,..of a very small flat crown and big brim, not unlike the present Leghorn flats.

1929 Amer. Speech 4 430 Among the terms which the daily press credits Mr. Dorgan with inventing are:..skimmer (hat).

1939 M. B. Picken Lang. Fashion 73/3 Skimmer, flat-crowned sailor, usually of straw, having wide, straight brim. Worn and so-called by students at Eton College.

1946 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Jan. 12/1 New Yorkers who patronize such places pay several times over the original cost of their skimmers, in tips alone, during the course of a year.

1974 P. De Vries Glory of Hummingbird ii. 13 The thoroughly incompatible straw hat... The brightly banded boater, or ‘skimmer’ or ‘katy’.

1964 N.Y. Times 9 Dec. 5 Irish linen skimmer with a flirty scalloped hemline!

1968 Telegraph (Brisbane) 2 Feb. 14/7 Cotton crepe skimmers..finished with set-in sleeves and a self bow trim.

1974 News & Press (Darlington, S. Carolina) 25 Apr. 3 (advt.) Our large collection includes wraps, skimmers, pleated coat dresses, fit 'n flares [etc.].

1903 Westm. Gaz. 11 Sept. 4/2 The shot was a sliced skimmer off a wooden club.

c1868 in H. Chadwick Scrapbks. XI. 5/1 An over-throw of Hatfield allowed Wilkins to seize second; he then stole to third, and ran in on Fisler's ‘skimmer’ to left field.

1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket iii. 131 Strawyard promptly drives it just as expected—a real ‘skimmer’ 6 feet over extra-cover's head.

1903 G. L. Jessop Cricket 15 The majority of his drives were low ‘skimmers’.

1908 N.Y. Evening Jrnl. 11 June 17/1 Twice Honus dug up slashing skimmers that Mike shot past Leach.

1911 P. F. Warner Bk. of Cricket v. 114 Haigh was bowling, and..Palairet batting, when a ‘skimmer’ came towards the pavilion straight for me.

1930 A. P. F. Chapman in Lonsdale & Parker Game of Cricket vii. 114 The catches sent him are a varied assortment—‘skiers and skimmers’—but he rarely gets an easy one.

1980 Amer. Speech 1976 51 294 Tennis slang…skimmer, ball gliding lightly and rapidly over the net.