Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To shed or cast off (a covering).
  • intransitive verb To shed or cast off exuviae; molt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To molt; shed or cast some part, as skin, hair, feathers, teeth, or shell.
  • To shed, cast, or throw off, as an effete skin, shell, or other external covering.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb (Zoöl.) To she [1913 Webster]d an old covering or condition preliminary to taking on a new one; to molt.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, intransitive, rare To shed or cast off a covering, especially a skin; to slough; to molt (moult).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[exuvi(ae) + –ate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin exuviae ("what is shed"), from exuō ("cast off, strip")

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Examples

  • With mansuetude compossible with my muliebrity, I condemn those niddering, olid morons who, in caliginosity of understanding, vilipend our English by attempting to exuviate words for which they cannot see any present custom.

    A malison on the poor of spirit. Angry Professor 2008

  • With mansuetude compossible with my muliebrity, I condemn those niddering, olid morons who, in caliginosity of understanding, vilipend our English by attempting to exuviate words for which they cannot see any present custom.

    Archive 2008-10-01 Angry Professor 2008

  • We may remark that other classes of animals exuviate in a similar manner to the crustaceans.

    Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 433 Volume 17, New Series, April 17, 1852 Various 1841

  • The lexicographers behind Britain's Collins English Dictionary have decided to exuviate (shed) rarely-used and archaic words as part of an abstergent (cleansing) process to make room for up to 2,000 new entries.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2008

  • Therefore, I vaticinate that when these fubsy, olid, griseous beards reach caducity and exuviate their mortal coils, the skirr of nitid angel’s wings will not be heard.

    Save the language! « Write Anything 2008

  • : cleansing or scouring agrestic: rural, rustic, unpolished, uncouth apodeictic: unquestionably true by virtue of demonstration caducity: perishableness, senility compossible: possible in coesistence with something else embrangle: to confuse or entangle exuviate: to shed (a skin or similar outer covering): short and stout, squat griseous

    Club Troppo 2008

  • those niddering, olid morons who, in caliginosity of understanding, vilipend our English by attempting to exuviate words for which they cannot see any present custom.

    A Gentleman's C Angry Professor 2008

  • :) BTW, to exuviate some light on the caliginosity of what is Digg, I am abstergent myself of something very olid here and taking a break.

    digg.com: Stories / Popular 2008

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