skeleton

Plural: skeleta, skeletons

Noun

• The rigid framework supporting a body, structure, or system.
• something reduced to its minimal form
  • "the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"
  • "the bare skeleton of a novel"
• a scandal that is kept secret
  • "there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet"
• the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal
• the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
  • "the building has a steel skeleton"
• The system that provides support to an organism, internal and made up of bones and cartilage in vertebrates, external in some other animals.
• An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton.
• A very thin person.
• The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure.
• A frame that provides support to a building or other construction.
• A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub.
• The vertices and edges of a polyhedron, taken collectively.
• A very thin form of light-faced type.
• A minimum or bare essentials.
• The network of veins in a leaf.
• Clipping of skeleton in the closet (“a shameful secret”).
• A type of tobogganing in which competitors lie face down, and descend head first.

Verb

• To reduce to a skeleton; to skin; to skeletonize.
• To minimize.

Examples

• His opponent’s board was just a skeleton of words, waiting for a big play.
• In remote method invocation, the client helper is a ‘stub’ and the service helper is a ‘skeleton’.
• She dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween.
• She lost so much weight while she was ill that she became a skeleton.
• The skeleton of the organisation is essentially the same as it was ten years ago, but many new faces have come and gone.

Synonyms

frame, skeletal frame, skeletal system, skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard, systema skeletale, underframe, backbone, ottomy, skeleton, skeleton tobogganing, skellington, thin person

Related Words

:Category:Skeleton, bone, SKELETAL