Dictionary · 127 terms
Skate dictionary
Every skateboarding term explained clearly: tricks, board anatomy, street slang, culture. If you've heard something and don't know what it means, it's here.
A
- ABD Already Been Done. When someone does a trick that's already been done at that spot by another pro.
- ABEC Industrial scale (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) that measures the dimensional precision of bearings. It does NOT measure how good they are for skating.
- Axle The thin metal rod that sticks out of the hanger and where you mount the wheels. Its width must match your deck.
B
- Backside Direction of a trick or turn where the skater's back faces the obstacle or the outside of the curve.
- Bail Jumping off the board on purpose before falling, to avoid the slam. A controlled fall.
- Banger A skater's most impressive trick in a session or video part. Usually saved for the end.
- Bank A simple flat incline (no curve) used to gain speed or do tricks off it.
- Baseplate The flat part of the truck that bolts to the deck. Four bolts per baseplate.
- Bearing Round metal part that goes inside the wheel and lets it spin on the axle. Each wheel takes 2.
- Boardslide Slide where the board crosses the edge sliding on its middle, with the trucks on either side of the edge.
- Bolts The 8 bolts that hold the trucks to the deck. They fill the deck's mounting holes.
- Bonk Briefly tapping the front wheels off an obstacle (without grinding) and rolling back onto the board.
- Bowl Concave empty-pool-style structure where you skate transitions and aerials.
- Bushings The two rubber pieces inside the hanger that let the truck turn. Their hardness defines the feel.
- Bust When security or the police kick you out of a spot. A "busted" spot is one where you always get kicked out.
C
- Carve Going up or down a ramp or wall in long curves instead of straight lines.
- Channel Gap An open gap in a ramp you have to clear in the air, usually with a bar across the top.
- Clips Each individual filmed take of a trick. The basic unit of skate video.
- Complete A skateboard already assembled and ready to ride. What you buy if you don't want to pick every part separately.
- Concave The transverse curve of the deck. Runs from "low" (mellow) to "high" (steep). Defines how much it "hugs" your foot.
- Coping The metal edge (pipe) at the top of a ramp, bowl or quarter pipe. Where you do grinds and stalls.
- Cruiser A skateboard built for getting around comfortably, not for tricks.
D
- Deck The board itself, without grip or trucks. What we casually call "the board" is really the "deck" in skate slang.
- DIY Spot A spot built by skaters themselves, usually without permission, with hand-mixed concrete.
- Durometer Measure of the hardness of wheel urethane. The A scale runs from 78A (soft) to 101A (very hard).
F
- Fakie Riding backwards while keeping your natural stance. The board rolls toward the tail instead of the nose.
- Filmer The person who films the skaters. A job equivalent to a director of photography in film.
- First try When a skater lands a trick on the first attempt. The most respected thing in a session.
- Fisheye Ultra-wide-angle lens that creates a bulging effect. An aesthetic almost synonymous with skate video.
- Flat spot A flat patch on the wheel caused by aggressive slides or long skids. Makes the wheel vibrate.
- Flatbar A horizontal rail with no slope. The "amateur" version of a handrail, without the stairs under it.
- Flatground Skating on flat ground, no ramps, rails or ledges. The technical base of everything else.
- Flip in Doing a flip BEFORE entering a grind, slide or manual. The most technical street skating.
- Flip out Doing a flip when EXITING a grind, slide or manual. The technical ceiling of street.
- Flow The smoothness with which a skater links speed, tricks and lines without it looking like effort.
- Frontside Direction of a trick or turn where the skater's chest faces the obstacle or the outside of the curve.
- Fun box All-round obstacle combining ramp + rail + ledge + steps. A skatepark staple.
G
- Game of S.K.A.T.E. Game between skaters: one does a trick and the other must match it; missing adds a letter of S-K-A-T-E.
- Gap An empty space a skater "clears" with an ollie. From small (a step) to huge (several metres).
- Gnarly Adjective. Something extreme, brutal, intense. Can be positive (a trick) or negative (a slam).
- Goofy Stance with the right foot at the front of the board. Roughly 35-40% of skaters ride goofy.
- Grind Sliding the trucks (not the board) on an edge, rail or pipe. Dozens of variants depending on which truck and how.
- Griptape The rough adhesive sheet on the top of the deck that gives your feet grip.
- Grom A kid or very young skater (typically 6-14). An affectionate term in the skate community.
H
- Half-pipe U-shaped ramp with two vertical walls and a flat section in the middle. The walls end in coping.
- Handrail A rail that runs down a set of stairs. The most committing obstacle in street skating.
- Hanger The big part of the truck the bushings sit in. It's the one that has its size stamped in millimetres (143, 145, 147, 149...).
- Heelflip Variation of the kickflip where the board flips the other way, flicked outward with the heel of the front foot.
- Hesh Punk/raw skate style: basic clothes, big boards, heavy transition. The opposite of "tech" or "fresh".
- Hip A corner where two ramps meet at an angle, used to jump from one to the other.
- Hubba An inclined ledge running down alongside a set of stairs, made to grind and slide downhill.
K
- Kickflip Trick where the board spins 360° horizontally on its long axis while you jump, "flicking" it with the side of your front foot.
- Kicktail The upward curve of the board's ends (nose and tail). It's what lets you do ollies and tricks.
- Kingpin The big central bolt of the truck that clamps the bushings. Sets how "hard" or "soft" the truck turns.
- Kook Someone who acts like a skater but has no real skill. The most-used insult at skateparks.
L
- Ledge A 90-degree edge like a bench or low wall. The most popular obstacle in street skating.
- Line A sequence of several tricks chained without stopping skating between them. The opposite of a single trick.
- Local A skater who regularly skates a specific spot or skatepark and knows it inside out.
- Longboard A longer board geared to cruising, carving and downhill, not street tricks.
M
- Mall grab Carrying the board by the truck instead of by the deck. Seen as "wannabe" by the community.
- Manny pad A low raised platform used specifically for doing manuals.
- Mini-ramp A lower half-pipe (typically 1-2 metres) with no vert. Very popular for learning transition.
- Mongo Pushing with the front foot (instead of the back one) while the back foot stays on the tail.
N
- NBD Never Been Done. A trick done for the first time at a specific spot. The peak of innovation.
- New School Modern skating from the 90s on: symmetrical popsicle, technical street and flips everywhere.
- Nollie Variant of the ollie where the snap is done with the front foot on the nose, not the back foot on the tail.
- Nose The front of the board. Also kicked upward (kicktail) but usually a touch longer than the tail.
- Nosegrind Grind where only the front truck slides on the edge, with the tail lifted in the air.
O
- Old School 70s and 80s skating: wide fish-shaped boards, vert, pool and old-school tricks.
- Ollie The basic skate jump. Lets you lift the board off the ground without grabbing it. The base of almost every other trick.
- Opener The first trick of a video part. It sets the tone for the rest. Worth choosing well.
P
- Plaza An open urban spot with several skateable obstacles (stairs, rails, ledges).
- Pool coping Concrete (not metal) coping typical of bowls and pools. Rougher, slows the grind down.
- Pop The board's ability to "jump" when you snap the tail. It's what lets you do high ollies.
- Pop Shove-it Trick where the board spins 180° horizontally (seen from above) without your body turning. Your back foot "scoops" the board.
- Poser Someone who dresses like a skater but doesn't even skate. A classic 90s insult.
- Pumping Generating speed on a ramp by flexing your knees and driving with your body, without putting a foot down.
- Pumptrack A closed loop of rollers and banked turns where you build speed by pumping, never pushing.
- Pyramid A four-sided sloped structure forming a pyramid. Lets you hit tricks in any direction.
R
- Rad Something really cool, sick or impressive. A classic of 80s skate slang.
- Rail A horizontal metal bar you grind and slide on. The elite tier of street skating.
- Razor Tail A sharp, worn-down tail (or nose) from constantly scraping it against the ground.
- Regular Stance with your left foot at the front of the board. Roughly 60-65% of skaters ride regular.
- Ripper An extremely good skater. The highest compliment in skate slang.
- Riser A plastic/urethane pad between the deck and the truck. Raises ride height so the wheel can't touch the board.
S
- Scorpion A fall where you land chest-first and momentum arches your legs up toward your head, like a scorpion.
- Sesh Short for "session": a stretch of skating, usually with your friends.
- Setup Your complete skateboard: deck, trucks, wheels, bearings, grip. What we call "your board".
- Shape The form of the deck: silhouette, nose and tail width, outline and concave.
- Shinner The classic crack of the board's edge into your shin when you blow a flip.
- Shred Verb. "To skate hard". Also used as a call: "let's shred!".
- Skate Rated Bones' rating for bearings. An alternative to the industrial ABEC scale, measuring what matters for skating.
- Skatepark Etiquette The unwritten rules of coexistence and respect inside a skatepark.
- Sketchy A trick that lands but ugly, with no style and a risk of falling. The opposite of "clean" or "steezy".
- Slam A hard fall. When you eat it bad with the board.
- Slide Sliding the board (not the trucks) along an edge or obstacle. The board sits perpendicular to the edge.
- Snake A skater who cuts into the middle of someone else's line at the park. Very frowned upon.
- Snake Run A winding course of curved walls connecting zones of a skatepark or bowl.
- Spacer A metal cylinder inside the wheel, between the two bearings. Stops them compressing when you tighten the axle nut.
- Speed Cream Bones' proprietary bearing lubricant. Included in many Bones packs.
- Speed Wobble Uncontrollable side-to-side oscillation of the board when you pick up too much speed.
- Spine Two quarter pipes set back to back with the coping joined at the top. Lets you do transfers.
- Sponsor-me tape A video an amateur skater sends to brands to get picked up. A 90s tradition that still exists.
- Spot Any place you skate. Can be an official park or an urban location.
- Stall Holding stationary on a ramp's coping for a moment. There are dozens of variants.
- Steeze The noun form of "steezy". The personal style with which a skater does tricks.
- Steezy A blend of "style" + "easy". Doing a trick with lots of style and apparent ease.
- Stoked Being really excited or hyped, usually about skating or about landing a trick.
- Street Skating urban obstacles: curbs, stairs, handrails, plazas. The most popular discipline in modern skating.
- Switch (stance) Skating the opposite of your natural stance: if you're regular, switch is skating as if you were goofy.
T
- Tail The back end of the board, where your back foot rests. It kicks upward (kicktail).
- Tech A skating style focused on very technical tricks and precise combinations.
- Transfer Going from one ramp or obstacle to another within the same air or line.
- Transition / Tranny Any curved surface (ramps, bowls, banks). The opposite of street/flatground.
- Truck The metal assembly joining the board to the wheels. Every skateboard has 2 trucks (one front, one back).
W
- Washers Metal washers that sit between the bearing and the axle nut. They come with the trucks.
- Wax Wax applied to ledges and rails to cut friction so you can slide.
- Wheelbase The distance between the truck mounting hole groups. Longer wheelbase = more stability.
- Wheelbite When the wheel touches the board on a turn and stops you dead. Causes dumb falls.