skate n
1. sports equipment that is worn on the feet to enable the wearer to glide along on wheels and to be propelled by the alternate actions of the legs
2. large edible rays having a long snout and thick tail with pectoral fins continuous with the head; swim by undulating the edges of the pectoral fins v : move along on skates; "The Dutch often skate along the canals in winter"

Skate \Skate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skated; p. pr. & vb. n. Skating.] To move on skates.

Skate \Skate\, n. [Icel. skata; cf. Prov. G. schatten, meer-schatten, L. squatus, squatina, and E. shad.] (Zo["o]l.) 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. Note: 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 (R. l[ae]vis) is also a large species, often becoming three or four feet across. The common spiny skate (R. erinacea) is much smaller. Skate's egg. See Sea purse. Skate sucker, any marine leech of the genus Pontobdella, parasitic on skates.

Skate \Skate\, 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. 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. Roller skate. See under Roller.

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Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Rajidae in the superorder Batoidea of rays. There are more than 200 described species in 27 genera. There are two subfamilies, Rajinae (hardnose skates) and Arhynchobatinae (softnose skates).

Skates have slow growth rates and, since they mature late, low reproductive rates. As a result skates are vulnerable to overfishing and it appears that skates have been overfished and are suffering reduced population levels in many parts of the world. The barndoor skate, Raja laevis, is currently listed with the IUCN as vulnerable due to being severely overfished.

In 2010, Greenpeace International has added the barndoor skate, bottlenose skate, spotback skate, and maltese skate to its seafood red list. "The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries."

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