Adjacent Words

Skin definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SKIN, n.
1. The natural covering of animal bodies, consisting of the cuticle or scarf-skin, the rete mucosum, and the cutis or hide. The cuticle is very thin and insensible; the cutis is thicker and very sensible.
2. A hide; a pelt; the skin of an animal separated from the body, whether green, dry or tanned.
3. The body; the person; in ludicrous language
4. The bark or husk of a plant; the exterior coat of fruits and plants.
SKIN, v.t.
1. To strip off the skin or hide; to flay; to peel.
2. To cover with skin.
3. to cover superficially.
SKIN, v.i. To be covered with skin; as a wound skins over.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch; "your skin is the largest organ of your body" [syn: skin, tegument, cutis]
2: an outer surface (usually thin); "the skin of an airplane"
3: body covering of a living animal [syn: hide, pelt, skin]
4: a person's skin regarded as their life; "he tried to save his skin"
5: the rind of a fruit or vegetable [syn: peel, skin]
6: a bag serving as a container for liquids; it is made from the hide of an animal v
1: climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling [syn: clamber, scramble, shin, shinny, skin, struggle, sputter]
2: bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of; "The boy skinned his knee when he fell" [syn: skin, scrape]
3: remove the bark of a tree [syn: bark, skin]
4: strip the skin off; "pare apples" [syn: skin, peel, pare]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse skinn; akin to Old English scinn skin, Middle High German schint fruit peel Date: 13th century 1. a. (1) the integument of an animal (as a fur-bearing mammal or a bird) separated from the body usually with its hair or feathers (2) a usually unmounted specimen of a vertebrate (as in a museum) b. the hide or pelt of a game or domestic animal c. (1) the pelt of an animal prepared for use as a trimming or in a garment — compare hide IV (2) a sheet of parchment or vellum made from a hide (3) bottle 1b 2. a. the external limiting tissue layer of an animal body; especially the 2-layered covering of a vertebrate body consisting of an outer epidermis and an inner dermis b. an outer covering (as a rind or husk) of a fruit or seed c. a membranous film or scum (as on boiling milk or drying paint) 3. the life or physical well-being of a person <saved his own skin> 4. a sheathing or casing forming the outside surface of a structure (as a ship or airplane) • skinless adjective II. verb (skinned; skinning) Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to strip, scrape, or rub off an outer covering (as the skin or rind) of b. to strip or peel off c. to cut, chip, or damage the surface of <fell and skinned my knee> 2. a. to cover with or as if with skin b. to heal over with skin 3. a. to strip of money or property ; fleece b. to defeat badly c. censure, castigate 4. to urge on and direct the course of (as a draft animal) intransitive verb 1. to become covered with or as if with skin 2. a. shinny b. to pass or get by with scant room to spare III. adjective Date: circa 1935 involving subjects who are nude <expected to conduct skin searches for weapons — Diane K. Shah>; especially devoted to showing nudes <skin magazines>

Britannica Concise

Surface covering of the body that protects it and receives external sensory stimuli, consisting of an epidermis over a thicker dermis. The epidermis contains cells involved in immune defenses, sensory receptors, pigment cells, and keratin-producing cells. The last harden and migrate to the surface to form a dead, relatively dry outer layer of horny tissue that constantly sloughs away. The dermis contains sensory nerves and blood vessels within connective tissue. Collagen and elastin fibers give skin its tough, elastic quality. Cells scattered through it produce its components and take part in immune and other skin responses. A fat layer under the dermis provides nutritional storage, cushioning, and insulation. Skin disorders range from dermatitis and acne to skin cancer. Changes in skin color (e.g., jaundice) or texture may be clues to systemic disorders. See also dermatology, hair, integument, nail, perspiration, sebaceous gland, sweat gland.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the flexible continuous covering of a human or other animal body. 2 a the skin of a flayed animal with or without the hair etc. b a material prepared from skins esp. of smaller animals (opp. HIDE(2)). 3 a person's skin with reference to its colour or complexion (has a fair skin). 4 an outer layer or covering, esp. the coating of a plant, fruit, or sausage. 5 a film like skin on the surface of a liquid etc. 6 a container for liquid, made of an animal's whole skin. 7 a the planking or plating of a ship or boat, inside or outside the ribs. b the outer covering of any craft or vehicle, esp. an aircraft or spacecraft. 8 Brit. sl. a skinhead. 9 US Cards a game in which each player has one card which he bets will not be the first to be matched by a card dealt from the pack. 10 = gold-beater's skin. 11 a duplicating stencil. --v. (skinned, skinning) 1 tr. remove the skin from. 2 (often foll. by over) a tr. cover (a sore etc.) with or as with skin. b intr. (of a wound etc.) become covered with new skin. 3 tr. sl. fleece or swindle. Phrases and idioms: be skin and bone be very thin. by (or with) the skin of one's teeth by a very narrow margin. change one's skin undergo an impossible change of character etc. get under a person's skin colloq. interest or annoy a person intensely. have a thick (or thin) skin be insensitive (or sensitive) to criticism etc. no skin off one's nose colloq. a matter of indifference or even benefit to one. skin-deep (of a wound, or of an emotion, an impression, beauty, etc.) superficial, not deep or lasting. skin-diver a person who swims underwater without a diving-suit, usu. in deep water with an aqualung and flippers. skin-diving such swimming. skin effect Electr. the tendency of a high-frequency alternating current to flow through the outer layer only of a conductor. skin-flick sl. an explicitly pornographic film. skin-food a cosmetic intended to improve the condition of the skin. skin friction friction at the surface of a solid and a fluid in relative motion. skin game US sl. a swindling game. skin-graft 1 the surgical transplanting of skin. 2 a piece of skin transferred in this way. skin test a test to determine whether an immune reaction is elicited when a substance is applied to or injected into the skin. skin-tight (of a garment) very close-fitting. to the skin through all one's clothing (soaked to the skin). with a whole skin unwounded. Derivatives: skinless adj. skin-like adj. skinned adj. (also in comb.). Etymology: OE scin(n) f. ON skinn

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Skin Skin, n. [Icel. skinn; akin to Sw. skinn, Dan. skind, AS. scinn, G. schined to skin.] 1. (Anat.) The external membranous integument of an animal. Note: In man, and the vertebrates generally, the skin consist of two layers, an outer nonsensitive and nonvascular epidermis, cuticle, or skarfskin, composed of cells which are constantly growing and multiplying in the deeper, and being thrown off in the superficial, layers; and an inner sensitive, and vascular dermis, cutis, corium, or true skin, composed mostly of connective tissue. 2. The hide of an animal, separated from the body, whether green, dry, or tanned; especially, that of a small animal, as a calf, sheep, or goat. 3. A vessel made of skin, used for holding liquids. See Bottle, 1. ``Skins of wine.'' --Tennyson. 4. The bark or husk of a plant or fruit; the exterior coat of fruits and plants. 5. (Naut.) (a) That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole. --Totten. (b) The covering, as of planking or iron plates, outside the framing, forming the sides and bottom of a vessel; the shell; also, a lining inside the framing. Skin friction, Skin resistance (Naut.), the friction, or resistance, caused by the tendency of water to adhere to the immersed surface (skin) of a vessel. Skin graft (Surg.), a small portion of skin used in the process of grafting. See Graft, v. t., 2. Skin moth (Zo["o]l.), any insect which destroys the prepared skins of animals, especially the larva of Dermestes and Anthrenus. Skin of the teeth, nothing, or next to nothing; the least possible hold or advantage. --Job xix. 20. Skin wool, wool taken from dead sheep.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Skin Skin, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Skinning.] 1. To strip off the skin or hide of; to flay; to peel; as, to skin an animal. 2. To cover with skin, or as with skin; hence, to cover superficially. It will but skin and film the ulcerous place. --Shak. 3. To strip of money or property; to cheat. [Slang]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Skin Skin, v. i. 1. To become covered with skin; as, a wound skins over. 2. To produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own, or to use in such exercise cribs, memeoranda, etc., which are prohibited. [College Cant, U.S.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(skins, skinning, skinned) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Your skin is the natural covering of your body. His skin is clear and smooth... There are three major types of skin cancer... The only difference between us is the colour of our skins. N-VAR 2. An animal skin is skin which has been removed from a dead animal. Skins are used to make things such as coats and rugs. That was real crocodile skin. N-VAR: usu supp N 3. The skin of a fruit or vegetable is its outer layer or covering. The outer skin of the orange is called the 'zest'. ...banana skins. N-VAR 4. If a skin forms on the surface of a liquid, a thin, fairly solid layer forms on it. Stir the custard occasionally to prevent a skin forming. N-SING 5. If you skin a dead animal, you remove its skin. ...with the expertise of a chef skinning a rabbit. VERB: V n 6. see also -skinned, banana skin 7. If you do something by the skin of your teeth, you just manage to do it. He won, but only by the skin of his teeth. PHRASE: PHR with cl 8. If you say that someone has a thick skin, you mean that they are able to listen to criticism about themselves without becoming offended. You need a thick skin to be a headmaster. PHRASE: N inflects, usu v PHR 9. to make your skin crawl: see crawl

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(`or, geledh, "human skin" (Job 16:15), basar, "flesh," in the sense of "nakedness" (Ps 102:5 the King James Version); derma):

Literal:

The word `or designates the skin of both men and animals, the latter both raw and in tanned condition: "Yahweh God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins (`or), and clothed them" (Ge 3:21); "She put the skins (`or) of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck" (Ge 27:16); "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer 13:23). The Hebrew geledh is found in the sense of human skin: "I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my horn in the dust" (Job 16:15).

Figurative:

`To escape by the skin of the teeth' is equivalent to a narrow escape (Job 19:20). Satan says in his calumny of Job: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life" (Job 2:4). The idea here is, that a man will endure or do the worst, even as it were the flaying of his body, to save his life. The Revised Version (British and American) has replaced "skin" as the translation of Hebrew basar by "flesh": "My bones cleave to my flesh" (Ps 102:5). "The bars of his skin" is a poetical expression for "the members of his body" in Job 18:13 margin, where the text interprets rather than translates the original.

Skins served for purposes of clothing from an early date (Ge 3:21). In later days they were the raiment of prophets and hermits (Zec 13:4; Heb 11:37). Septuagint translates 'addereth, "the mantle" of Elijah (1Ki 19:13,19; 2Ki 2:8,13 f), with melote, i.e. "sheepskin," the word in He being derived from these passages. It is not unlikely that the raiment of John the Baptist made "of camel's hair" and the "leathern girdle about his loins" are identical with the rough garb of Old Testament prophets. The skins of cattle were largely employed for technical uses; "rams' skins and badgers' skins" are especially mentioned in the construction of the tabernacle as material for the waterproof covering of the roof (Ex 25:5; Nu 4:8,10 ).

The Revised Version, rejecting the translation "badgers' skins," substitutes "sealskins" and adds "porpoise skins" in the margin. There is little doubt that the rendering of the King James Version is indeed incorrect. The Hebrew name of the animal (tachash) is the same as the Arabic tuchas, which means the dolphin and the "sea-cow" or halicore of the Red Sea, of which genus there are two species even now extant (H. tabernaculi Russ, and H. Helprichii Ehr.). It is probable that the Jews included various marine animals, seals, porpoises, dolphins and halicores, under the same expression.

See SEALSKIN.

In Eze 16:10 we find these skins mentioned as material for elegant shoes, and the Arabs of the Red Sea littoral use the same material in the manufacture of sandals. A quaint use was made of skins in the making of skin bottles, the qurbeh or qirbeh of modern Arabia. We find a great variety of Hebrew expressions, which possibly designated special varieties, all of which were rendered askos, in Septuagint and the New Testament (chemeth, no'dh, no'dhah, nebhel, nebhel, baqbuq, 'obh). the Revised Version (British and American) has rendered the Greek askos in the New Testament by "wineskin" (Mt 9:17; Mr 2:22; Lu 5:37) with the marginal addition "that is, skins used as bottles." These skin bottles were made of the skins of goats, sheep, oxen or buffaloes; the former had more or less the shape of the animals, the holes of the extremities being closed by tying or sewing, and the neck of the skin being closed by a tap or a plug, while the larger ones were sewn together in various shapes. As a rule only the inside of the skin was tanned, the skin turned inside out, and the fluid or semi-fluid filled in, e.g. water, milk, butter, cheese. The hairy inside was not considered as in any way injurious to the contents. Only in the case of wine-and oil-skins was it thought advantageous to tan the skins inside and out.

H. L. E. Luering

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Hide, pelt, derm, cutis. 2. Husk, hull, peel, rind. II. v. a. 1. Flay, excoriate, peel. 2. Peel, pare. 3. Cover with a skin or crust.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

In a bad skin; out of temper, in an ill humour. Thin-skinned: touchy, peevish.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A purse. Frisk the skin of the stephen; empty the money out of the purse. Queer skin; an empty purse.

Moby Thesaurus

C, C-note, G, G-note, IUD, ablate, abrade, abrase, acne, acne vulgaris, bag, bark, barrel, bear the palm, beat, beat all hollow, beat hollow, beeline, best, bill, birth control device, blame, bleed, bleed white, blemish, bloody, bone, border, bran, break, buck, bucket, bullet, burn, capsule, cartwheel, case, casing, censure, cent, century, chafe, chaff, cheapskate, cheat, check, chip, circumference, clad, claw, clip, clobber, coat, coating, collop, con man, condemn, condom, contraceptive, contraceptive foam, copper, cork, corn shuck, cornhusk, cortex, cover, covering, crack, craze, crust, cursoriness, cut, cut off, deal, decorticate, defeat, defoliate, defrauder, denounce, denude, denunciate, deplume, derma, dermamycosis, dermatitis, dermatosis, despoil, destroy, diaphragm, diddler, dime, disk, dismember, displume, divest, do in, dollar, dollar bill, double-dealer, drain, draw and quarter, drub, dry, eczema, elephantiasis, enamel, envelope, epicarp, epidermis, epithelioma, erase, erode, erysipelas, erythema, exanthem, excoriate, exhaust, exploit, exterior, exteriority, external, facade, face, facet, facing, fell, feuille, fifty cents, file, film, fin, fish, five cents, five hundred dollars, five-dollar bill, five-hundred-dollar bill, five-spot, fiver, fix, flap, flay, fleece, fleet, flimflammer, foil, fold, four bits, fracture, fray, frazzle, fret, fringe, frogskin, front, fur, gall, gash, gloss, gnaw, gnaw away, gouge, grand, grate, graze, grind, gyp, half G, half a C, half dollar, half grand, haste, hasten, heat rash, herpes, herpes simplex, herpes zoster, hide, highball, hives, hold up, hors de combat, hull, hundred-dollar bill, hurt, husk, hustle, impetigo, impoverish, incise, incrustation, injure, integument, intrauterine device, iron man, itch, jacket, jungle rot, knock, lacerate, lacquer, lambaste, lamella, lamina, laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, lather, leaf, leprosy, lichen, lichen primus, lick, lineaments, lupus, lupus vulgaris, maim, make mincemeat of, mangle, maul, membrane, mere scratch, miliaria, milk, mill, mutilate, nickel, niggard, no depth, no water, oral contraceptive, outclass, outdo, outer face, outer layer, outer side, outer skin, outfight, outgeneral, outline, outmaneuver, outpoint, outrun, outsail, outshine, outside, overcharge, overlay, overprice, overtax, paint, palea, pane, panel, pare, patina, peel, peeling, pellicle, pelt, pemphigus, penny, periphery, pessary, phellum, pick clean, pick to pieces, pierce, pinprick, plait, plank, plate, plating, pluck, ply, plywood, pod, prickly heat, profiteer, prophylactic, pruigo, pruritus, psora, pull apart, pull off, puncture, put, quarter, rap, rasher, rasp, raze, red cent, rend, reprehend, reprobate, revetment, rind, ringworm, rip, rub away, rub off, rub out, rubber, ruin, run, rupture, safety glass, savage, sawbuck, scabies, scald, scale, scalp, scorch, scotch, scour, scrape, scratch, screw, scrooge, scrub, scuff, scum, settle, shallowness, sharper, shear, sheath, sheathing, sheet, shell, shingles, shoaliness, shred, shuck, side, siding, silver dollar, skin alive, skin cancer, skinflint, slab, slash, slat, slice, slightness, slit, slough, smacker, soak, spermicidal jelly, spermicide, sprain, stab, stick, stiff, sting, strain, strip, strip bare, suck dry, superficiality, superficies, superstratum, surcharge, surface, swindle, table, tablet, take apart, take the cake, tear, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, ten cents, ten-spot, tenner, tetter, the pill, thousand dollars, thousand-dollar bill, thrash, tightwad, top, traumatize, trim, triumph, triumph over, triviality, trounce, twenty-dollar bill, twenty-five cents, two bits, two-dollar bill, two-spot, undo, varnish, veneer, victimize, wafer, wear, wear away, whip, win, worst, wound, wrench, yard