skeleton

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The internal structure composed of bone and cartilage that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism; endoskeleton.
2. n. The hard external supporting and protecting structure in many invertebrates, such as mollusks and crustaceans, and certain vertebrates, such as turtles; exoskeleton.
3. n. A supporting structure or framework, as of a building.
4. n. An outline or sketch.
5. n. Something reduced to its basic or minimal parts.
6. n. One that is very thin or emaciated.
7. adj. Of, relating to, or resembling a skeleton.
8. adj. Reduced to the basic or minimal parts or members: a skeleton crew.
9. idiom. skeleton in (one's) closet A source of shame or disgrace, as in a family, that is kept secret.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In anatomy, the dry bones of the body taken together; hence, in anatomy and zoology, some or any hard part, or the set of hard parts together, which form a support, scaffold, or framework of the body, sustaining, inclosing, or protecting soft parts or vital organs; connective tissue, especially when hard, as when fibrous, cuticular, corneous, cartilaginous, osseous, chitinous, calcareous, or silicious; an endoskeleton, exoskeleton, dermoskeleton, scleroskeleton, splanchnoskeleton, etc. (See these words.) More speciflcally
2. n. The supporting framework of anything; the principal parts that support the rest, but without the appendages.
3. n. An outline or rough draft of any kind; specifically, the outline of a literary performance: as, the skeleton of a sermon.
4. n. Milit., a regiment whose numbers have become reduced by casualties, etc.
5. n. A very lean or much emaciated person; a mere shadow of a man.
6. n. In printing, an exceedingly thin or condensed form of light-faced type.
7. Of or pertaining to a skeleton; in the form of skeleton; skeletal; lean.
8. Consisting of a mere framework, outline, or combination of supporting parts: as, a skeleton leaf; a skeleton crystal.
9. To skeletonize.

Wiktionary

1. n. anatomy The system that provides support to an organism, internal and made up of bones and cartilage in vertebrates, external in some other animals.
2. n. A frame that provides support to a building or other construction.
3. n. figuratively A very thin person.
4. n. A type of tobogganing in which competitors lie face down, and descend head first (compare luge). See Wikipedia:Skeleton (sport)
5. n. computing A client-helper procedure that communicates with a stub.
6. n. geometry The vertices and edges of a polyhedron, taken collectively.
7. n. An anthropomorphic representation of a skeleton. See Wikipedia:Skeleton (undead)
8. n. figuratively The central core of something that gives shape to the entire structure.
9. v. archaic to reduce to a skeleton; to skin; to skeletonize
10. v. archaic to minimize

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The bony and cartilaginous framework which supports the soft parts of a vertebrate animal.
2. n. The more or less firm or hardened framework of an invertebrate animal.
3. n. A very thin or lean person.
4. n. The framework of anything; the principal parts that support the rest, but without the appendages.
5. n. The heads and outline of a literary production, especially of a sermon.
6. adj. Consisting of, or resembling, a skeleton; consisting merely of the framework or outlines; having only certain leading features of anything

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
2. n. a scandal that is kept secret
3. n. something reduced to its minimal form
4. n. the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal