skeleton
/ˈskɛlɪtən/
noun
- The structure of bones that supports the body of a person or animal.
- A human skeleton has 206 bones.
- The cat's skeleton was found in the old barn.
- The museum has a dinosaur skeleton on display.
- A very thin person or animal.
- The starving horse looked like a walking skeleton.
- The rescue team found the lost hiker, weak and reduced to a skeleton.
- After the long illness, he was just a skeleton of his former self.
- The basic framework or outline of something, such as a plan, story, or building.
- The steel skeleton of the building was completed in just three months.
- We have the skeleton of a business plan, but we need to add more details.
- The writer first created a skeleton of the plot before writing the chapters.
- A secret from the past that could cause embarrassment or shame (often in the phrase 'skeleton in the closet').
- The politician tried to hide the skeletons in his past.
- She was afraid that her old skeleton would be discovered by the press.
- Every family has a skeleton in the closet that nobody talks about.
adjective
- Describing the smallest possible number of people or amount of something needed to keep something running.
- During the strike, only a skeleton staff kept the factory running.
- The hospital operates with a skeleton crew on holidays.
- The bus company ran a skeleton service on Christmas Day.