What is "exuviate"

Exuviate \Ex*u"vi*ate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Exuviated, p. pr. & vb. n. Exuviating.][From Exuviae.] (Zo["o]l.) To she [1913 Webster]d an old covering or condition preliminary to taking on a new one; to molt.

There is reason to suppose that very old crayfish do not exuviate every year.
--Huxley.

vb. (context ambitransitive rare English) To shed or cast off a covering, especially a skin; to slough; to molt (moult).

v. cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers; "out dog sheds every Spring" [syn: shed, molt, moult, slough]