SKIN (skinned, skinning)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: skinned    , skinning   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does skin mean? 

• SKIN (noun)
  The noun SKIN has 8 senses:

1. a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch

2. an outer surface (usually thin)

3. body covering of a living animal

4. a person's skin regarded as their life

5. a member of any of several British or American groups consisting predominantly of young people who shave their heads; some engage in white supremacist and anti-immigrant activities and this leads to the perception that all skinheads are racist and violent

6. a person whose head is bald or shaved

7. the rind of a fruit or vegetable

8. a bag serving as a container for liquids; it is made from the hide of an animal

  Familiarity information: SKIN used as a noun is common.

• SKIN (verb)
  The verb SKIN has 4 senses:

1. climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling

2. bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of

3. remove the bark of a tree

4. strip the skin off

  Familiarity information: SKIN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SKIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cutis; skin; tegument

Context example:

your skin is the largest organ of your body

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

connective tissue (tissue of mesodermal origin consisting of e.g. collagen fibroblasts and fatty cells; supports organs and fills spaces between them and forms tendons and ligaments)

body covering (any covering for the body or a body part)

Meronyms (parts of "skin"):

Pacinian corpuscle (a specialized bulblike nerve ending located in the subcutaneous tissue of the skin; occurs abundantly in the skin of palms and soles and joints and genitals)

free nerve ending (microscopic sensory nerve endings in the skin that are not connected to any specific sensory receptor)

sudoriferous gland; sweat gland (any of the glands in the skin that secrete perspiration)

crease; crinkle; furrow; line; seam; wrinkle (a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface)

scab (the crustlike surface of a healing skin lesion)

pore (any small opening in the skin or outer surface of an animal)

blackhead; comedo (a black-tipped plug clogging a pore of the skin)

milium; whitehead (a small whitish lump in the skin due to a clogged sebaceous gland)

liver spot (a type of skin disease that causes brown spots on the skin)

freckle; lentigo (a small brownish spot (of the pigment melanin) on the skin)

macula; macule (a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases)

corium; derma; dermis (the deep vascular inner layer of the skin)

skin cell (any of the cells making up the skin)

cuticle; epidermis (the outer layer of the skin covering the exterior body surface of vertebrates)

pressure point (an area on the skin that is highly sensitive to pressure)

Meronyms (substance of "skin"):

melanin (insoluble pigments that account for the color of e.g. skin and scales and feathers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "skin"):

scalp (the skin that covers the top of the head)

agnail; hangnail (a loose narrow strip of skin near the base of a fingernail; tearing it produces a painful sore that is easily infected)

cuticle (the dead skin at the base of a fingernail or toenail)

foreskin; prepuce (a fold of skin covering the tip of the clitoris)

foreskin; prepuce (a fold of skin covering the tip of the penis)

dewlap (a hanging fold of loose skin on an elderly person's neck)

buff (bare skin)

skin graft (a piece of skin taken from a donor area and surgically grafted at the site of an injury or burn)

thick skin (skin that is very thick (as an elephant or rhinoceros))

investment (outer layer or covering of an organ or part or organism)

Holonyms ("skin" is a part of...):

integumentary system (the skin and its appendages)

Derivation:

skin (bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of)

skinny (of or relating to or resembling skin)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An outer surface (usually thin)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the skin of an airplane

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

surface (the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary)

Holonyms ("skin" is a part of...):

aircraft (a vehicle that can fly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Body covering of a living animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

hide; pelt; skin

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

body covering (any covering for the body or a body part)

Derivation:

skin (bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person's skin regarded as their life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he tried to save his skin

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

aliveness; animation; life; living (the condition of living or the state of being alive)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A member of any of several British or American groups consisting predominantly of young people who shave their heads; some engage in white supremacist and anti-immigrant activities and this leads to the perception that all skinheads are racist and violent

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

skin; skinhead

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

bully; hooligan; roughneck; rowdy; ruffian; tough; yob; yobbo; yobo (a cruel and brutal fellow)

Holonyms ("skin" is a member of...):

bootboys; skinheads (a youth subculture that appeared first in England in the late 1960s as a working-class reaction to the hippies; hair was cropped close to the scalp; wore work-shirts and short jeans (supported by suspenders) and heavy red boots; involved in attacks against Asians and football hooliganism)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A person whose head is bald or shaved

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

baldhead; baldpate; baldy; skin; skinhead

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The rind of a fruit or vegetable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

peel; skin

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

rind (the natural outer covering of food (usually removed before eating))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "skin"):

jacket (the outer skin of a potato)

banana peel; banana skin (the skin of a banana (especially when it is stripped off and discarded))

lemon peel; lemon rind (the rind of a lemon)

orange peel; orange rind (the rind of an orange)

Holonyms ("skin" is a part of...):

edible fruit (edible reproductive body of a seed plant especially one having sweet flesh)

Derivation:

skin (strip the skin off)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A bag serving as a container for liquids; it is made from the hide of an animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("skin" is a kind of...):

bag (a flexible container with a single opening)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "skin"):

water skin; waterskin (a container of skin for holding water)

wineskin (an animal skin (usually a goatskin) that forms a bag and is used to hold and dispense wine)

• SKIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they skin    ... he / she / it skins   
Past simple: skinned   
Past participle: skinned   
-ing form: skinning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

clamber; scramble; shin; shinny; skin; sputter; struggle

Hypernyms (to "skin" is one way to...):

climb (move with difficulty, by grasping)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

scrape; skin

Context example:

The boy skinned his knee when he fell

Hypernyms (to "skin" is one way to...):

injure; wound (cause injuries or bodily harm to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he skin his foot?

Derivation:

skin (body covering of a living animal)

skin (a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Remove the bark of a tree

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bark; skin

Hypernyms (to "skin" is one way to...):

strip (remove the surface from)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They skin the trees

Sense 4

Meaning:

Strip the skin off

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

pare; peel; skin

Context example:

pare apples

Hypernyms (to "skin" is one way to...):

strip (remove the surface from)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "skin"):

peel off (peel off the outer layer of something)

flay (strip the skin off)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs skin the vegetables

Derivation:

skin (the rind of a fruit or vegetable)

skinner (a person who prepares or deals in animal skins)

 Context examples 

He answered: “I sold my cow’s skin in the town, for three hundred talers.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

This strain is susceptible to a variety of neoplasms including testicular, adrenal, pituitary, and skin and ear duct tumors in males and pituitary, uterine, mammary, and adrenal tumors in females.

(ACI/Seg, Rat Strain, NCI Thesaurus)

Being exposed to high levels of acetone may irritate the skin, eyes, nose, throat, and lungs.

(Acetone, NCI Dictionary)

“It is my trade to risk my skin,” growled the archer; but none the less he thrust his quiver over his hip again and turned his face for the west.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My skin grew cold and my hair rose at the thought.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A thick skin of new ice showed that it had not been used for some time.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Capricorn rules bones, teeth, skin, and eyes, so one of these areas of your body might be a focus in March.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

If you have acne: • Clean your skin gently • Try not to touch your skin • Avoid the sun

(Acne, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

A benign epithelial neoplasm of the skin.

(Acantholytic Acanthoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Skin abscesses are easy to detect.

(Abscess, NIH)