noun

skeleton

SKEH-lih-tuhn

noun

The framework of bones supporting a human or animal body.

"The museum displayed a full dinosaur skeleton."

The basic framework or outline of something, before it is filled in with detail.

"She wrote a skeleton of the plot before adding any dialogue."

A winter sport in which the athlete lies face-down on a small sled and speeds head-first down an icy track.

"He won a bronze medal in skeleton at the Winter Olympics."

How to Use Skeleton

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishThe bony framework of a body, or by extension any bare underlying structure — plus the name of a head-first sledding sport.

Common mistake

The idiom "skeleton in the closet" means a hidden shameful secret, not a literal skeleton.

Common pairings

skeleton crew skeleton key skeleton in the closet human skeleton

skeletoned past tense, skeletons plural, skeletons singular

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The museum displayed a full dinosaur _____.

From New Latin "sceleton," ultimately from Greek "skeletós," meaning "dried up" or "withered" — describing a dried-out body.

Breton Carleton Appleton Eagleton simpleton singleton Middleton Pendleton Stapleton Littleton Pembleton Shackleton