skulls

Noun

skull (plural skulls)

1. The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial bones, and mandible.
   • All the time six or eight large Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as many young men, producing such a deafening discord that I was glad to escape to the round house, where I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended over my head.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 110
2. These bones as a symbol for death; death's-head.
   • Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
     ⁠Thou madest Life in man and brute;
     ⁠Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
     Is on the skull which thou hast made.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Prologue”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
3. (figuratively) The mind or brain.
   • My thoughts are flying around in my skull like fireflies in a jar, but all of a sudden I'm unbearably tired and can't stay awake.2006, Bart Yates, The Brothers Bishop
4. A crust formed on the ladle, etc. by the partial cooling of molten metal.
5. The crown of the headpiece in armour.
6. (Scotland) A shallow bow-handled basket.

See all 10 meanings of skull