skeleton meaning

• Noun: skeleton  skelutun
  1. The hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal
     - skeletal system, frame, systema skeletale 
  2. Something reduced to its minimal form
     "the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"; "the bare skeleton of a novel" 
  3. A scandal that is kept secret
     "there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet"
     - skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard 
  4. The internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
     "the building has a steel skeleton"
     - skeletal frame, frame, underframe

  Derived forms: skeletons

  See also: musculoskeletal, skeletal

  Type of: lower limit, minimum, outrage, scandal, supporting structure, system

  Part of: aircraft, building, edifice, musculoskeletal system, ship

  Encyclopedia: Skeleton

• 
  [Business]
  noun [C]

  1

  the main structure that supports a building:

  Only the concrete skeleton of the factory remained.

  2 (used as an adjective)

  used to describe the smallest number of people, things or parts that you need to do sth:

  There will only be a skeleton staff on duty over the holiday.

  We managed to maintain a skeleton service during the strike.

• 
  [Medicine]
  n
  1 : a usu. rigid supportive or protective structure or framework of an organism; esp : the bony or more or less cartilaginous framework supporting the soft tissues and protecting the internal organs of a vertebrate
  2 : the straight or branched chain or ring of atoms that forms the basic structure of an organic molecule
  

• skeleton sheeting, skeleton timbering:    [Architecture]Same ...
• appendicular skeleton:    Noun: appendicular ...
• axial skeleton:    Noun: axial skelet ...

Examples

1. the outer one third has a cartilaginous skeleton.
2. you should write the skeleton equation.
3. death is often shown in pictures as a human skeleton.
4. each animal has a chalky skeleton.
5. i don't have any skeleton in my closet.