skate on (something)

(redirected from skates on)

skate on (something)

1. Literally, to use roller skates, inline skates, ice skates, or a skateboard on some particular surface or area. You've got to be absolutely sure about the thickness of the ice before you go out skating on the frozen lake. We've had a real problem with kids skating on the long handrails of the staircase that leads up to the entrance of our office building.
2. To escape punishment for a crime or wrongdoing; to be acquitted of charges for a crime. No one could believe he skated on the charges, with many believing someone had influenced the jury to acquit him.
See also: on, skate
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

skate on something

to skate on a particular surface. You can't skate on that ice! It's too thin. Don't skate on the ice until it has been scraped smooth.
See also: on, skate
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in classic literature ?
What fault, if any, do you find with my putting the skates on the young ladies, and carryin' the campstool for them?"
Winkle, with his face and hands blue with the cold, had been forcing gimlet into the soles of his boots, and putting his skates on, with the points behind, and getting the straps into a very complicated and entangled state, with the assistance of Mr.
Winkle, with his face and hands blue with the cold, had been forcing a gimlet into the sole of his feet, and putting his skates on, with the points behind, and getting the straps into a very complicated and entangled state, with the assistance of Mr.
Jo heard Amy panting after her run, stamping her feet and blowing on her fingers as she tried to put her skates on, but Jo never turned and went slowly zigzagging down the river, taking a bitter, unhappy sort of satisfaction in her sister's troubles.
Nikolay Shtcherbatsky, Kitty's cousin, in a short jacket and tight trousers, was sitting on a garden seat with his skates on. Seeing Levin, he shouted to him: