Other forms: skimping, skimped
To skimp is to spend or use less than is really needed. Skimp on materials, don't skimp, skimped on the filling.
It takes on and it is always a criticism, because what is saved costs more later — skimping on preparation is the standard example. Note skimpy, meaning too small or too revealing; and that the origin of the word is uncertain, possibly Scandinavian.
1verbskimpTo spend or use less than is really needed.
“Don't skimp on the butter, or the pastry will be dry.”
skimp is an under-supplying.
The origin of skimp is uncertain and may be Scandinavian. Scrimp is probably related.
Proto-Germanic
*skimpijaną — to skip, dance, gesture, mock
English, today
skimp
Perhaps of gmq - origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic skimpijaną (“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”). Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), dialectal Swedish skimpa (“to skip, dance”), Faroese skumpa (“to shove, bump”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”). Possibly distantly related to change.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA