Skimming can refer to two different things: a reading technique and a form of white-collar crime.
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Reading Technique: Skimming is a strategic, selective reading method in which you focus on the main ideas of a text. When skimming, you deliberately skip text that provides details, stories, data, or other elaboration. Instead of closely reading every word, you focus on the introduction, chapter summaries, first and last sentences of paragraphs, bold words, and text features. Skimming is extracting the essence of the author’s main messages rather than the finer points.
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White-Collar Crime: Skimming is a form of white-collar crime that involves taking cash "off the top" of the daily receipts of a business (or from any cash transaction involving a third interested party) and officially reporting a lower total. The formal legal term for this is defalcation. Skimming may be necessitated by a third crime, such as an extortionist demanding a bribe, kickbacks, or payment to a protection racket or loan shark or even a blackmailer. Skimming may also be the direct theft of cash, in addition to hiding it from tax authorities, the perpetrator hides the taking from an employer (embezzlement), business partners, or shareholders).
It is important to note that skimming as a white-collar crime is illegal and can have serious consequences. On the other hand, skimming as a reading technique can be a useful tool for extracting the main ideas of a text and saving time.
