skin

1 of 3

noun

often attributive
1
a(1)
: the integument of an animal (such 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 entry 2
(2)
: a sheet of parchment or vellum made from a hide
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 (such 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 (such as a ship or airplane)
skinless adjective

skin

2 of 3

verb

skinned; skinning

transitive verb

1
a
: to strip, scrape, or rub off an outer covering (such 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
4
: to urge on and direct the course of (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

skin

3 of 3

adjective

: devoted to showing nudes
skin magazines
Phrases
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

Examples of skin in a Sentence

Noun the rough skin of a shark Choose makeup that matches your skin tone. These snakes shed their skins once a year. Native Americans had many uses for animal skins. His boots are made of alligator skin. Potato skin is very nutritious. Verb The hunter skinned the rabbit and prepared it for cooking. I skinned my knee when I fell.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The best cleanser for you will depend on your skin type. Sarah Y. Wu, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2024 Those included euphoric feelings, illusions and hallucinations, anxiety, abnormal thinking, headaches, dizziness, nausea, excessive sweating, vomiting, numbness or tingling of the skin, and pupil dilation. Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024 The detail that went into these legendary skins is blowing my mind. Ash Parrish, The Verge, 7 Mar. 2024 Perhaps the warmest shade of ash brown in the bunch, this ashen chestnut looks insanely flattering on warm-toned skin types. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2024 Scientists stained some of the specimens with a temporary contrast-enhancing solution that allows the team to visualize their soft tissues, including muscle, skin, and other organs. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 6 Mar. 2024 There’s also a spate of new products that delve deeper into various skin conditions, including two spot treatments, one for inflammatory acne and one for non-inflammatory acne, and a sunscreen in two formulas, tinted and non-tinted. Sharon Edelson, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024 Biofeedback is a therapy technique that uses electronic sensors to monitor muscle tension, skin temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure.30 20. Amanda MacMillan, Health, 26 Feb. 2024 In addition to some of the side effects listed above, skin pigmentation changes could also occur. Delaney Nothaft, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2024
Verb
Consider wearing gloves and taking extra precautions when field dressing and skinning the deer. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 29 Feb. 2024 Alongside ads in which Beyoncé announced a new album and Sir Patrick Stewart proposed skinning Peppa Pig to make a football, the content of Temu’s ad was comparatively unremarkable. Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 13 Feb. 2024 In the movie, his character, locked up an institution for the criminally insane, is interviewed by FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster), who is hoping to gain insight into another serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who kidnaps women and skins them. Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 20 Jan. 2024 Divers and sea ducks should be skinned and their fat should be removed. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 17 Aug. 2023 Here’s the ultimate hybrid boot for core skiers who spend time both navigating expert terrain at the resort and skinning for turns in the backcountry (as well as hopping out gates for sidecountry tours). Douglas Schnitzspahn, Travel + Leisure, 21 Dec. 2023 This beloved French moisturizer snuggles skin with a rich, creamy formula of shea butter and aloe vera that’s like a soft blanket for the face. Andrea Navarro, Glamour, 24 Nov. 2023 On the fossils, the researchers found cut marks consistent with someone using a stone tool to skin a large animal. Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 2 Nov. 2023 The company, which has raised $2 million in funding, works with about a dozen fishing cooperatives throughout the Caribbean to hunt lionfish, which are skinned and shipped on salt to their Tampa, Fla., headquarters. Chavie Lieber, WSJ, 22 Sep. 2023
Adjective
Most of the sub-skin hardware comes from Fiat and English Ford parts bins. Arthur St. Antoine, Car and Driver, 25 Nov. 2020 Then there are the shocking statistics around breast cancer, which affects one in every eight women and is the most common non-skin cancer affecting women. Maria Aspan, Fortune, 30 June 2020 My colleague Emily Schultz went a few months after me and had a funky, skin contact wine. Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 24 June 2019 The main issue with temperature drops is skin dehydration or lack of water, says ZENii Skincare founder, GP, and cosmetic doctor Johanna Ward. refinery29.com, 21 Mar. 2018 The all-in-one formula gently removes makeup, cleanses face, and leaves skin feeling soft—with no need to even rinse. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 11 July 2017 Using spatula and a pair of tongs, carefully turn each fillet so skin side is up. Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit, 30 Oct. 2017 Sun Protection F.A.B.'s Skin Tint offers SPF 30, and Glossier's Perfecting Skin Tint has none. Sable Yong, Allure, 18 July 2017 Skin imperfections are revealed to have names—papules, pustules, milia, cysts—and to respond to certain treatments. Jamie Lauren Keiles, The New Yorker, 6 June 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'skin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old Norse skinn; akin to Old English scinn skin, Middle High German schint fruit peel

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Adjective

1933, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of skin was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near skin

Cite this Entry

“Skin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skin. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

skin

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: the outer layer of an animal when separated from the body usually with its hair or feathers : hide, pelt
b
: a sheet of parchment or fine-grained leather made from a hide
2
a
: the usually tough and flexible outer layer of an animal body that in vertebrates is made up of two layers including an inner dermis and an outer epidermis
b
: an outer covering or surface layer
a sausage skin
apple skins
3
: the life or physical well-being of a person
made sure to save his skin
skinless adjective
skinned
ˈskind
adjective

skin

2 of 2 verb
skinned; skinning
1
: to strip, scrape, or rub off the skin of
skin an animal
skinned my knee
2
: to cover or become covered with or as if with skin
3
4
a
: to climb up or down
skin up and down a rope
b
: to pass or get by with little room to spare

Medical Definition

skin

1 of 2 noun
: the 2-layered covering of the body consisting of an outer ectodermal epidermis that is more or less cornified and penetrated by the openings of sweat and sebaceous glands and an inner mesodermal dermis that is composed largely of connective tissue and is richly supplied with blood vessels and nerves

skin

2 of 2 transitive verb
skinned; skinning
: to cut or scrape the skin of
fell and skinned his knee

More from Merriam-Webster on skin

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