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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
skeleton
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
skeleton key
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
complete
▪ Scattered around him were complete skeletons reminding him of when his country was able to produce crops and feed animals.
▪ The skulls and one complete skeleton in rotting clothes had leered out of magazines.
▪ Often we have only fragments of bones to build up a mental picture of the final complete skeleton.
▪ One almost complete skeleton of Crassigyrinus had previously been known from only one skull fragment.
▪ When it was demolished, two complete skeletons were found walled up inpart of the building.
external
▪ Vertebrates do it by means of a backbone and internal skeleton, arthropods achieve structural rigidity by means of a tough external skeleton or shell.
▪ The external skeleton has one incidental quality which has had momentous results.
▪ Most of their taxonomic characters are evident in the external skeleton.
▪ All three sections are enclosed within an external skeleton made, primarily, of chitin.
▪ The chitinous external skeleton seems to be particularly responsive to the demands of evolution.
human
▪ And indeed it was something very different - the bones of a human skeleton, a few pieces of clothing still on it.
▪ The moon and the star are personified, the skyscraper is a human skeleton with bones and ribs.
▪ The workmen were ordered to clear the fall of earth away and it wasn't long before a human skeleton was discovered.
▪ One has only to glance at a human skeleton to see the numerous segments of the vertebral column.
■ NOUN
argument
▪ The judges hearing the appeal will read the skeleton arguments prior to the hearing along with the notice of appeal and the judgment appealed.
▪ A skeleton argument should therefore be as succinct as possible.
▪ Skeleton arguments are not pleadings and, save in exceptional cases ... need not answer the skeleton arguments of the other side.
crew
▪ The doc pointed out how appropriate it was to have a Skull in a skeleton crew.
▪ Various versions were filmed on closed sets with skeleton crews and strict security.
▪ Without you ghost ferries would cross the Mersey manned by skeleton crews.
key
▪ Alexander Rokovssky carefully inserted a skeleton key, and slowly turned it.
▪ The Children as skeleton keys to open every door.
▪ Offer him a set of skeleton keys?
▪ He fumbled for his skeleton keys and realised that he had not brought them with him from the car.
▪ These jokers will be experts with skeleton keys.
staff
▪ The skeleton staff were no match for Massenga and his team of ex-Security policemen.
▪ The Republicans and Democrats tick over with a skeleton staff and then hire specialist consultants for each campaign.
▪ The Automobile Association skeleton staff trio will be huddled in front of their personal computer screens relaying road conditions to drivers.
▪ A skeleton staff was on duty to keep the world-wide operations of Royalbion ticking over.
▪ There was only a skeleton staff on duty and no one took much notice of him.
▪ Last night a management spokeswoman said a skeleton staff was working and would produce a newspaper.
▪ Voice over A skeleton staff of eight is finishing off the company's orders.
▪ On the late shift the desk and telephone switchboard are often covered by a skeleton staff or a night porter.
steel
▪ For the structural engineer considering how to design a steel skeleton for the skyscraper, there were certain important implications.
▪ Before the steel skeleton, tall buildings were made of stone.
▪ Two raising gangs were working separately to construct the next two floors of the steel skeleton.
▪ They would stay with the building until topping out, the traditional ceremony that marks the completion of the steel skeleton.
■ VERB
contain
▪ Secret chambers abound within, one of which is said to contain the skeleton of the Monster of Glamis.
▪ The importance of the Temple Butte is that it contains fossil skeletons of primitive fish.
create
▪ These are created in conjunction with a skeleton layout for whatever document you wish to produce and consist of a number of tags.
find
▪ On the other hand, Minter had evidently found no skeleton in his cupboard, for all his efforts to do so.
▪ There he found the skeleton of a whale, a sperm whale, which had become a shrine for the natives.
▪ Ben, in his lonely walks around the island, had found the skeleton and found the treasure.
▪ They've found twelve skeletons, some of which date back almost two thousand years.
▪ Workmen on the site have been helping archaeologists to find the remaining skeletons.
▪ Charlie's found a skeleton in his garden.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The office building's steel skeleton rose above the skyline.
▪ We watched her go from a healthy girl to a skeleton in just a few months.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He had watched it in early May, as the tiny breaking leaves spread a pinkish haze over the magnificent skeleton.
▪ Is essential for normal skeleton development in children and adolescents, and for maintaining high bone density in young adults.
▪ It leaves a fully intact and unmodified skeleton at its place of death.
▪ One of the skeletons has an Amulet of Coal about its neck.
▪ The plate showed the clear outline of a skeleton!
▪ The skulls and one complete skeleton in rotting clothes had leered out of magazines.
▪ Today he is making skeletons for Halloween.
▪ Unlike caffeine, these molecules have only two methyl groups attached to their xanthine skeleton.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Skeleton

Skeleton \Skel"e*ton\, a. Consisting of, or resembling, a skeleton; consisting merely of the framework or outlines; having only certain leading features of anything; as, a skeleton sermon; a skeleton crystal.

Skeleton bill, a bill or draft made out in blank as to the amount or payee, but signed by the acceptor. [Eng.]

Skeleton key, a key with nearly the whole substance of the web filed away, to adapt it to avoid the wards of a lock; a master key; -- used for opening locks to which it has not been especially fitted.

Skeleton leaf, a leaf from which the pulpy part has been removed by chemical means, the fibrous part alone remaining.

Skeleton proof, a proof of a print or engraving, with the inscription outlined in hair strokes only, such proofs being taken before the engraving is finished.

Skeleton regiment, a regiment which has its complement of officers, but in which there are few enlisted men.

Skeleton shrimp (Zo["o]l.), a small crustacean of the genus Caprella. See Illust. under L[ae]modipoda.

Skeleton

Skeleton \Skel"e*ton\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ???? (sc. ???) a dried body, a mummy, fr. ???? dried up, parched, ???? to dry, dry up, parch.]

  1. (Anat.)

    1. The bony and cartilaginous framework which supports the soft parts of a vertebrate animal.

      Note: [See Illust. of the Human Skeleton, in Appendix.]

    2. The more or less firm or hardened framework of an invertebrate animal.

      Note: In a wider sense, the skeleton includes the whole connective-tissue framework with the integument and its appendages. See Endoskeleton, and Exoskeleton.

  2. Hence, figuratively:

    1. A very thin or lean person.

    2. The framework of anything; the principal parts that support the rest, but without the appendages.

      The great skeleton of the world.
      --Sir M. Hale.

    3. The heads and outline of a literary production, especially of a sermon.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
skeleton

1570s, from Modern Latin sceleton "bones, bony framework of the body," from Greek skeleton soma "dried-up body, mummy, skeleton," from neuter of skeletos "dried-up" (also, as a noun, "dried body, mummy"), from skellein "dry up, make dry, parch," from PIE root *skele- "to parch, wither" (see sclero-).\n

\nSkelton was an early variant form. The noun use of Greek skeletos passed into Late Latin (sceletus), hence French squelette and rare English skelet (1560s), Spanish esqueleto, Italian scheletro. The meaning "bare outline" is first recorded c.1600; hence skeleton crew (1778), skeleton key, etc. Phrase skeleton in the closet "source of secret shame to a person or family" is from 1812.

Wiktionary
skeleton

n. 1 (context anatomy English) The system that provides support to an organism, internal and made up of bones and cartilage in vertebrates, external in some other animals. 2 A frame that provides support to a building or other construction. 3 (context figuratively English) A very thin person. 4 (From the sled used, which originally was a bare frame, like a skeleton.) A type of tobogganing in which competitors lie face down, and descend head first (compare luge). See Wikipedia:Skeleton (sport) 5 (context computing English) A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub. 6 (context geometry English) The vertex and edges of a polyhedron, taken collectively. 7 An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton. See Wikipedia:Skeleton (undead) 8 (context figuratively English) The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure. vb. 1 (context archaic English) to reduce to a skeleton; to skin; to skeletonize 2 (context archaic English) to minimize

WordNet
skeleton
  1. n. something reduced to its minimal form; "the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"; "the bare skeleton of a novel"

  2. a scandal that is kept secret; "there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet" [syn: skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard]

  3. the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal [syn: skeletal system, frame, systema skeletale]

  4. the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape; "the building has a steel skeleton" [syn: skeletal frame, frame, underframe]

Wikipedia
Skeleton

The skeleton (from Greek σκελετός, skeletós "dried up") is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are several different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body, the hydroskeleton, and the cytoskeleton.

Skeleton (undead)

A skeleton is a type of physically manifested undead often found in fantasy, gothic and horror fiction, and mythical art. Most are human skeletons, but they can also be from any creature or race found on Earth or in the fantasy world.

Skeleton (disambiguation)

A skeleton is a biological system providing support in a living organism.

Skeleton or skeletons may also refer to:

Skeleton (category theory)

In mathematics, a skeleton of a category is a subcategory which, roughly speaking, does not contain any extraneous isomorphisms. In a certain sense, the skeleton of a category is the "smallest" equivalent category which captures all "categorical properties". In fact, two categories are equivalent if and only if they have isomorphic skeletons. A category is called skeletal if isomorphic objects are necessarily identical.

Skeleton (Figurines album)

Skeleton is an album by Figurines, released in 2005.

Skeleton (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the skeleton is an undead creature. In the third edition of the game, a skeleton's statistics are usually created by applying a template to those of another creature.

Skeleton (sport)

Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled (or -sleigh) down a frozen track while lying face down (prone), as well as the name of the sled employed. Unlike other sliding sports of bobsleigh and luge, the race always involves single riders. Like bobsleigh, but unlike luge, the race begins with a running start from the opening gate at the top of the course. The sport (and the sled) were named from the bony appearance of the sled.

Previously, skeleton bob appeared in the Olympic program in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928 and again in 1948. It was added permanently to the Olympic program for the 2002 Winter Olympics, at which stage a women's race was added.

During elite racing the rider experiences forces up to 5 g and reaches speeds over 130 km/h (80 mph).

Skeleton (computer programming)

Skeleton programming is a style of computer programming based on simple high-level program structures and so called dummy code. Program skeletons resemble pseudocode, but allow parsing, compilation and testing of the code. Dummy code is inserted in a program skeleton to simulate processing and avoid compilation error messages. It may involve empty function declarations, or functions that return a correct result only for a simple test case where the expected response of the code is known.

Skeleton programming facilitates a top-down design approach, where a partially functional system with complete high-level structures is designed and coded, and this system is then progressively expanded to fulfill the requirements of the project. Program skeletons are also sometimes used for high-level descriptions of algorithms. A program skeleton may also be utilized as a template that reflects syntax and structures commonly used in a wide class of problems.

Skeleton programs are utilized in the template method design pattern used in object-oriented programming. In object-oriented programming, dummy code corresponds to an abstract method, a method stub or a mock object. In the Java remote method invocation (Java RMI) nomenclature, a stub communicates on the client-side with a skeleton on the server-side.

A class skeleton is an outline of a class that is used in software engineering. It contains a description of the class's roles, and describes the purposes of the variables and methods, but does not implement them. The class is later implemented from the skeleton.

Skeleton (Abe Vigoda album)

Skeleton is the third album by Abe Vigoda. It was released by PPM Records on July 8, 2008.

Skeleton (Donghae & Eunhyuk song)

"Skeleton" is the third Japanese single by Super Junior's sub-group, Donghae & Eunhyuk, released on August 6, 2014, by Avex Trax.

Usage examples of "skeleton".

Any honest afrit would by now have grown wings and shot down to find me, but without a nearby ledge or roof to hop to, the skeleton was stymied.

Within the dark glistening of the corridors, where surface speaks to surface in tiny whispers like fingers, and the larger codes, the extirpated skeletons of a billion minds, clack together in a cemetery of logic, shaking hands, continually shaking bony, algorithmic hands and observing strict and necessary protocol for the purposes of destruction.

Fourteen weeks later, ultrasound revealed a fetal skeleton, normal in all ways for that stage of development, a week later, amniocentesis confirmed the fetus was male.

But that will be merely a skeleton that will require many layers of annotation to give it meaning.

The skeleton was perhaps the least ludicrous of the party, for it was clean of grave-dust, and no atrophied muscles clung to its ivory smoothness.

The acrobat was sorely bedeviled by the skeleton rider, for that traitor from the past was swatting at Erejzan, trying to slay him with a bloodstained sword.

As soon as we were alone, the plastered skeleton thrust its arms forward, and, without giving me time to know what I was about, the creature gave me a horrible kiss, and then one of her hands began to stray with the most bare-faced indecency.

They found gas chambers, crematoriums, mass graves, thousands and thousands of living skeletons, and countless corpses lying about, all exactly as Berel described Oswiecim.

The angular skeleton of Boaster was now mottled with black, where the once seething fire had finally been extinguished by the rain.

As you approach the plaza, you see that it is littered with hones, the skeletons of adventurers just like yourselves who came to Bodach in search of the lost treasure and found, instead, their deaths.

The cayote is a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton, with a gray wolf-skin stretched over it, a tolerably bushy tail that forever sags down with a despairing expression of forsakenness and misery, a furtive and evil eye, and a long, sharp face, with slightly lifted lip and exposed teeth.

Below them, the main fork of the little Coquille River rushed westward under the shattered skeletons of broken bridges before meeting its north and south branches under the morning shadow of Sugarloaf Peak.

But, in spite of all my expeditions, as I could not always find something to steal, I was as thin as a walking skeleton.

But by far the most wonderful of all Cetacean relics was the almost complete vast skeleton of an extinct monster, found in the year 1842, on the plantation of Judge Creagh, in Alabama.

The something that Cumshaw had stirred turned out to be the whitened skeleton of a man.