skate on

skate on (something)

1. Literally, to use roller skates, inline skates, ice skates, or a skateboard on some particular surface or area. You've got to be absolutely sure about the thickness of the ice before you go out skating on the frozen lake. We've had a real problem with kids skating on the long handrails of the staircase that leads up to the entrance of our office building.
2. To escape punishment for a crime or wrongdoing; to be acquitted of charges for a crime. No one could believe he skated on the charges, with many believing someone had influenced the jury to acquit him.
See also: on, skate
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

skate on something

to skate on a particular surface. You can't skate on that ice! It's too thin. Don't skate on the ice until it has been scraped smooth.
See also: on, skate
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • skate on (something)
  • skate by
  • skate around
  • skates
  • get (one's) skates on
  • get your skates on
  • get/put your skates on
  • put (one's) skates on
  • be thrown off balance
  • skate over (something)
References in classic literature
For the weather steadily hardened and sharpened; that night the ice of the lake, glimmering in the moonlight, was like a marble floor, and they had begun to dance and skate on it before it was dark.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
they fit nicely," and, sitting on the new sled, Rose tried a skate on her little bare foot, while Phebe stood by admiring the pretty tableau.
Eight Cousins