skim off

skim off (third-person singular simple present skims off, present participle skimming off, simple past and past participle skimmed off)

1. To separate (the best part of something from the remainder).
   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51:

     There was also the influx of a third of a million road lorries, sold at giveaway prices after their war roles ceased and used by competing one-man businesses to skim off sundry agricultural freight.