Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Modern Latin
Origin: Greek, from skeletos 'dried up'

skeleton

 noun
     
skeleton
NEW! See related topics: BIOLOGYMEDICINE
skel‧e‧ton
1

bones

[countable]
a) HB the structure consisting of all the bones in a human or animal body:
the human skeleton
b) M a set of these bones or a model of them, fastened in their usual positions, used for example by medical students
2

basic parts

[singular] the most important parts of something, to which more detail can be added later:
We agreed on a skeleton outline of the proposal.
3

thin person

[countable] an extremely thin person or animal:
The disease had reduced Harry to a skeleton.
4

structure

[countable] the main structure that supports a building, bridge etc:
Minutes after the explosion, all that remained was the skeleton of the bridge.
5

a skeleton in the closet

also a skeleton in the cupboard British English an embarrassing or unpleasant secret about something that happened to you in the past
6

skeleton staff/crew/service etc

only enough workers or services to keep an operation or organization running:
The bus company is operating a skeleton service on Christmas Day.
7

sport

[countable, singular] a sport in which you slide down a special ice track while lying on your front on a type of sledge, or the vehicle you slide on ➔ bobsleigh, luge
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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