skel ‧ e ‧ ton /ˈskelət ə n, ˈskelɪt ə n/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Modern Latin ; Origin: Greek , from skeletos 'dried up' ]
1 . BONES [countable]
a) the structure consisting of all the bones in a human or animal body:
the human skeleton
b) 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