Meanings
present singular third person creams off · participle present creaming off · participle past creamed off · past creamed off
- To separate (the best part of something from the regular part).
Manuel points out that the real cost of corruption is not what is actually embezzled or creamed off the top: The best thing these people could do is just take from the public treasury directly, because that would be much less expensive.
2020, Cristina Flesher Fominaya, Democracy Reloaded, page 1782 more examples
For entirely self-serving reasons, ministers and civil servants never dispelled the public belief that uncaring 'fat cat' privateers or foreign state railways were in control, ramping up fares and creaming off profits which either enriched shareholders or subsidised European rail fares. DfT left train operators to 'take the heat' - which they dutifully did, fearful of speaking up and 'biting the hand that feeds'.
2020 September 23, Nigel Harris, “Comment: We MUST seize the moment”, in Rail, page 3According to Wagenknecht, only migration between countries of similar levels of economic development is unproblematic. Conversely, attracting skilled migrants from developing and transition countries to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries is a net loss for their societies of origin. It is a convenient way for rich countries to cream off human resources—such as expensively-trained medical doctors, nurses and engineers.
2024 August 18, Jörg Michael Dostal, “Left Conservatism: Sahra Wagenknecht's Challenge to the German Party System”, in The Political Quarterly, volume 95, number 4, →DOI, page 641 of 634–644 - To use a cream (cold cream) to remove something (usually makeup, from one's face).
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish kuoria, poimia
- kuoriaTo extract the cream or creamy part
- poimiaTo separate the best of
- ottaa oma osuutensaTo earn a part of the profit of
German abrahmen, absahnen
- abrahmenTo extract the cream or creamy part
- absahnenTo extract the cream or creamy part
- abrahmenTo separate the best of
- absahnenTo separate the best of
- abzwackenTo earn a part of the profit of
- abknappenTo earn a part of the profit of
- abknapsenTo earn a part of the profit of
- abknausernTo earn a part of the profit of
Spanish descremar, desnatar
- descremarTo extract the cream or creamy part
- desnatarTo extract the cream or creamy part
- esquilmarTo earn a part of the profit of
- sacar provecho deTo earn a part of the profit of
Cite this entry
cream off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cream%20off
“cream off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cream%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cream off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cream%20off.
Source: cream off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.