n. [ D. schaats. Cf. Scatches. ] A metallic runner with a frame shaped to fit the sole of a shoe, -- made to be fastened under the foot, and used for moving rapidly on ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

Batavia rushes forth; and as they sweep,
On sounding skates, a thousand different ways,
In circling poise, swift as the winds, along,
The then gay land is maddened all to joy. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Roller skate. See under Roller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Skated; p. pr. & vb. n. Skating. ] To move on skates. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Icel. skata; cf. Prov. G. schatten, meer-schatten, L. squatus, squatina, and E. shad. ] (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of large, flat elasmobranch fishes of the genus Raia, having a long, slender tail, terminated by a small caudal fin. The pectoral fins, which are large and broad and united to the sides of the body and head, give a somewhat rhombic form to these fishes. The skin is more or less spinose. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Some of the species are used for food, as the European blue or gray skate (Raia batis), which sometimes weighs nearly 200 pounds. The American smooth, or barn-door, skate (Raia laevis) is also a large species, often becoming three or four feet across. The common spiny skate (Raia erinacea) is much smaller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Skate's egg. See Sea purse. --
Skate sucker, any marine leech of the genus Pontobdella, parasitic on skates. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who skates. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of hemipterous insects belonging to Gerris, Pyrrhocoris, Prostemma, and allied genera. They have long legs, and run rapidly over the surface of the water, as if skating. [ 1913 Webster ]