Word.ws English Dictionary

skull-and-crossbones

skull-and-crossbones is the alternative form of skull and crossbones.

Meaning of skull and crossbones

Noun

skull and crossbones (plural skull and crossbones or skulls and crossbones)

  1. A depiction of a human skull and two crossed femurs (thighbones), a symbol of death traditionally used on the Jolly Roger pirate flag, but now used on chemical containers and other hazardous items as an indicator of warning of toxicity or other life-threatening dangers or risks.
    • In an obscure corner of the town stands a house of extreme antiquity, over the door of which are still to be seen a skull and crossbones.1832 February, “A Tale of Galway, Ireland”, in Louis Antoine Godey, editor, The Lady’s Book: A Monthly Magazine of Belles-lettres and the Arts. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: L[ouis] A[ntoine] Godey & Co....

Forms of skull-and-crossbones

pluralskull-and-crossbones
pluralskulls-and-crossbones

Questions about skull-and-crossbones

What is skull-and-crossbones the alternative form of?
Skull-and-crossbones is the alternative form of skull and crossbones.

Words near skull-and-crossbones in the dictionary

  1. skull fucking
  2. skull session
  3. skull sessions
  4. skull splitter
  5. Skull Valley
  6. skull-and-crossbones
  7. skull-cap
  8. skull-caps
  9. skull-collecting ant
  10. skull-fuck
  11. skull-fucked

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: skull-and-crossbones (page history and authors); skull and crossbones (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.

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Cite this entry: “skull-and-crossbones.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/skull-and-crossbones. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.