skeleton (ˈskɛlɪtən
)
Definitions
noun
- a hard framework consisting of inorganic material that supports and protects the soft parts of an animal's body and provides attachment for muscles: may be internal (an endoskeleton), as in vertebrates, or external( an exoskeleton), as in arthropods See also endoskeleton , exoskeleton
- informal a very thin emaciated person or animal
- the essential framework of any structure, such as a building or leaf, that supports or determines the shape of the rest of the structure
- an outline consisting of bare essentials ⇒
the skeleton of a novel
- (modifier) US Canadian reduced to a minimum ⇒
a skeleton staff
- See skeleton in the cupboard
Alternative Forms
ˈskeletal adjective ˈskeletally adverb ˈskeleton-ˌlike adjectiveWord Origin
C16: via New Latin from Greek: something desiccated, from skellein to dry upTranslations
- British English:
skeleton
Your skeleton is the framework of bones in your body....a human skeleton.ˈskɛlɪtən NOUN ...a human skeleton.
- Spanish:
esqueleto
nm
- French:
squelette
nm
- German:
Skelett
nnt
- Chinese: 骷髅 n
- Arabic: هَيْكَلٌ عَظْمِيّ n
- Portuguese: esqueleto nm
- Russian: скелет nm
- Croatian: kostur nm
- Czech: kostra nf
- Danish: skelet nnt
- Dutch: skelet nnt
- Finnish: luuranko n
- Greek: σκελετός nm
- Italian: scheletro nm
- Japanese: 骨格 n
- Korean: 해골 n
- Norwegian: skjelett nnt
- Polish: szkielet nm
- Brazilian Portuguese: esqueleto nm
- European Spanish:
esqueleto
nm
- Swedish: skelett nnt
- Thai: โครงกระดูก n
- Turkish: iskelet n
- Vietnamese: bộ xương n
Usage examples
To grow the muscle, the skeleton was placed in a Petri dish containing rat cardiac muscle cells in a glucose culture medium.
New Scientist (2004)Police entered the house in a suburb of Stuttgart on Wednesday to discover a skeleton in bed at house occupied by a 54-year-old woman.
Globe and Mail (2003)Radio Australia, its overseas service, has been starved into a skeleton existence.
Independent (1998)In some animals the skeleton lies outside the body and in others the skeleton is contained within the body.
, Science Basic Facts (1989)