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Glite Dictionary
speed skater

speed skater

3 3.0
A person who races fast on ice around an oval track
  • noun
  • /spiːd ˈskeɪtər/
translation icon : patinador de velocidad
  • During the Winter Olympics, the speed skater set a new world record in the 500-meter race.
  • Olympic speed skater
  • speed skater scored gold
  • short-track speed skater

And for a speed skater at this level to take two days a week completely away from the sport was relatively unheard of.

Examples

  • The speed skater glided smoothly around the oval track, showcasing her incredible agility.

  • And for a speed skater at this level to take two days a week completely away from the sport was relatively unheard of.

    Rich Roll

  • The only way a speed skater could move that quickly is with Jewish magnets.

  • The only way a speed skater could move that quickly is with Jewish magnets.

  • An accomplished Master's inline speed skater, she has 14 national titles in indoors, banked track, and road, and holds two national records.

    Blog text (16)

  • Russian speed skater Ivan Skobrev is glad that the situation with the contract was finally resolved before the start of the pre-Olympic season, said the athlete.

    Blog text (22)

  • Len wanted to see more hip action from the speed skater, but Carrie Ann told him he was 3,000 times sexier than his first pass through the ballroom.

    Blog text (9)

  • Last weekend, the speed skater won the championship, earning her a place in the national team.

Synonyms

speedskater
vsspeed skater
1 3.9

An athlete who skates fast in races on an oval ice track

is the same meaning but written as two separate words

How Fast

speed skater
3 3.0
skater
102 1.0

Surface Forms

speed skater singular
speed skaters plural

Morphology

speed + skater

The compound meaning (a skater who skates for speed or competes in speed skating) is directly derivable from combining 'speed' (how fast) and 'skater' (someone who skates); it denotes the type/role of the skater. This noun+noun compositional pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Speed skater comes from a simple picture: speed meaning 'fast' and skater meaning 'a person on ice skates', someone moving quickly on the ice. So, a speed skater is 'a person who competes in races on ice skates'.