skate on thin ice

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

To take a risky action or situation that could easily become dangerous

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Hành động hoặc tình huống nguy hiểm có thể xảy ra dễ dàng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: ice that is too thin to support weight
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

He's skating on thin ice by investing all his money in one stock

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “skate on thin ice” mean?

To take a risky action or situation that could easily become dangerous Literally: ice that is too thin to support weight

Is “skate on thin ice” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.