Word.ws English Dictionary

skeleton crew

Syllables: skel·e·ton crewUK/ˌskɛlɪtn ˈkɹuː//ˌskɛlətən ˈkɹu/

skeleton crew noun: a crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship.

Noun

skeleton crew (plural skeleton crews)

  1. (idiomatic) A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship.
    • [T]he ships of the English navy were left with skeleton crews of the most wretched kind and description.1834 March 4, Duke of Buckingham [Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos], “Impressment of Seamen”, in Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates: […] Third Series...
    • But when night came on, the wind died away, and the skeleton crew, revived by hope, actually took to the oars, and used them to some effect.1838, [Frederick] Chamier, chapter XIV, in Jack Adams, the Mutineer. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 270

Examples of skeleton crew in a sentence

  • Eighteen phosphorus incendiaries fell on Op 450 and penetrated the roof, but were extinguished by the skeleton crew without damage.1945 August 4, Franklin D’Olier, chairman, “Appendix IV: Air Raid Reports (Translations)”, in [anonymous], transl., Ludwigshafen-Oppau...
  • The internet technology team—which is partly responsible for keeping the site functioning—became "a skeleton crew," two people said.2022 November 4, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, “Confusion and frustration reign as Elon Musk cuts half of Twitter's staff”, in The New...

Forms of skeleton crew

pluralskeleton crews

Origin of skeleton crew

From skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew, metaphorically referring to a crew being bare bones rather than adequately fleshed out.

Words that rhyme with skeleton crew

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about skeleton crew

What does skeleton crew mean?
Skeleton crew means a crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship.
How do you use skeleton crew in a sentence?
Eighteen phosphorus incendiaries fell on Op 450 and penetrated the roof, but were extinguished by the skeleton crew without damage.
What part of speech is skeleton crew?
Skeleton crew is a noun.
How do you pronounce skeleton crew?
Skeleton crew is pronounced /ˌskɛlɪtn ˈkɹuː/ (UK).
What is the plural of skeleton crew?
The plural of skeleton crew is skeleton crews.

Words near skeleton crew in the dictionary

  1. skeleton
  2. skeleton at the feast
  3. skeleton clique
  4. skeleton clock
  5. skeleton clocks
  6. skeleton crew
  7. skeleton crews
  8. skeleton flower
  9. skeleton grip
  10. skeleton grips
  11. skeleton in one's closet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: skeleton crew (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-skeleton crew.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-skeleton crew.wav.

Cite this entry: “skeleton crew.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/skeleton_crew. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.