Main Entry:

¹skin

Pronunciation:

\ˈskin\

Function:

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 {h,4}hide (2): a sheet of parchment or vellum made from a hide (3): bottle 1b2 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)

— skin·less \-ləs\ adjective

— by the skin of one's teeth

: by a very narrow margin

— under one's skin

: so deeply penetrative as to irritate, stimulate, provoke thought, or otherwise excite

— under the skin

: beneath apparent or surface differences : at heart