Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps


Noun: skeleton  ske-lu-tun
  1. The hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal
    - skeletal system, frame, systema skeletale
     
  2. Something reduced to its minimal form
    "the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"; "the bare skeleton of a novel"
     
  3. A scandal that is kept secret
    "there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet";
    - skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard
     
  4. The internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
    "the building has a steel skeleton";
    - skeletal frame, frame, underframe
     
  5. A winter sport in which one person rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down

Derived forms: skeletons

Type of: lower limit, minimum, outrage, scandal, supporting structure, system

Part of: aircraft, building, edifice, musculoskeletal system, ship

Encyclopedia: Skeleton