- 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 4hide (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)
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skin·less \-ləs\ adjective —
by the skin of one's teeth : by a very narrow margin
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under one's skin : so deeply penetrative as to irritate, stimulate, provoke thought, or otherwise excite
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under the skin : beneath apparent or surface differences : at heart
