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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

skeleton

/ˈskɛlətən/

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What does skeleton mean?

noun

  1. The system that provides support to an organism, where in vertebrates it is internal and consists of bones and cartilage, and external in some other animals.
  2. An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton.
  3. (figuratively) A very thin person.
More meanings (13)

noun

  1. (figuratively) The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure; an outline of a longer project.
  2. A frame that provides support to a building or other construction.
  3. A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub.
  4. The vertices and edges of a polyhedron, taken collectively.
  5. A full subcategory of another category, consisting of one object from each isomorphism class in the original.
  6. A very thin form of light-faced type.
  7. A minimum or bare essentials.
  8. The network of veins in a leaf.
  9. Clipping of skeleton in the closet (“a shameful secret”).
  10. A type of tobogganing in which competitors lie face down, and descend head first.
  11. The form of toboggan used in this sport.

verb

  1. (archaic) To reduce to a skeleton; to skin; to skeletonize.
  2. (archaic) To minimize.
Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈskɛlətən/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Jane, turning at the cry, saw the cause of it lying prone upon the floor before them—the whitened skeleton of a man.
Edgar Rice BurroughsTarzan of the ApesProject Gutenberg ebook #78
Unlike Actinia, its body is supported by a stony skeleton of calcareous plates arranged edgewise so as to radiate from the centre.
Charles KingsleyGlaucus; Or, The Wonders of the ShoreProject Gutenberg ebook #695
More book examples (3)
TELEOSTEAN FISHES.—Fishes of the kind familiar to us in the present day, having the skeleton usually completely ossified and the scales horny.
Charles DarwinThe Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th EditionProject Gutenberg ebook #2009
The figures of fiends in aspects of menace, with skeleton forms, and other more really fearful images, overspread and disfigured the walls.
Edgar Allan PoeThe Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2Project Gutenberg ebook #2148
Bubendorf reports the spontaneous elimination of a fetal skeleton by the rectum after five years of retention, with recovery of the patient.
George M. (George Milbrey) Gould; Walter L. (Walter Lytle) PyleAnomalies and Curiosities of MedicineProject Gutenberg ebook #747