skillenton

Noun

skeleton (plural skeletons or skeleta)

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.
   • At the foot of a pretty big pine, and involved in a green creeper, which had even partly lifted some of the smaller bones, a human skeleton lay, with a few shreds of clothing, on the ground.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Treasure Hunt—Flint’s Pointer”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 263
2. An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton.
   • Her whimsical Halloween decorations include dancing skeletons who sing an eerie song.
3. (figuratively) A very thin person.
   • She lost so much weight while she was ill that she became a skeleton.
4. (figuratively) The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure; an outline of a longer project.
   • The skeleton of the organisation is essentially the same as it was ten years ago, but many new faces have come and gone.

   Synonyms:

   backbone

5. A frame that provides support to a building or other construction.
6. A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub.
   • In remote method invocation, the client helper is a ‘stub’ and the service helper is a ‘skeleton’.

See all 15 meanings of skeleton