skeleton 
tendinous or lii*;imentous tissue, or in viscera, and con- 
stitute the xctt'roxlieleton or splanchnoskeletnn. Teeth are 
certainly skeletal parts, though not usually counted with 
fr 
Skeleton and Outline of Lion (Felts Up). 
fr, frontal bone ; C, cervical vertebrae ; D, dorsal vertebra? ; L, lum- 
bar vertebra; ; cfi, caudal vertebra? ; sc t scapula ; fe, pelvis (the letters 
are at the ischiuiu): ma, mandible ; hu, humerus; ra, radius; ill, 
ulna ; cp, carpus ; tnc, metacarpus ; ft, femur ; tit>, tibia ; Jib, fibula ; 
ca, calcaneum ; tar, tarsus; *nt, metatarsus ; A phalanges. 
the bones of the skeleton ; they are horny, not osseous 
or dentinal, in some animals. The human skeleton con- 
sists of about 200 bones, without counting the teeth 
the enumeration varying somewhat according as the scle- 
roskeletal sesa- 
nioid bones are 
or are not in- 
cluded. See sesa- 
moid. (2) The ex- 
ternal covering of 
the body ; the cu- 
ticle or epider- 
mis ; the dermo- 
Encloskeleton (rt) and Exoskeleton or Der- 
nioskeleton () of Pichtciago (Chlamydopho- 
rus truncatus). 
skeleton or exo- 
skeleton, includ- 
ing all the non- 
vascular, non-ner- 
vous cuticular or epidermal structures, as horns, hoofs, 
claws, nails, hairs, feathers, scales, etc. In man the exo- 
skeleton is very slight, consisting only of cuticle, nails, 
and hail' ; but in many vertebrates it is highly developed 
and may be bony, as in the shells of armadillos and of 
turtles, the plates, shields, or bucklers of various reptiles 
and fishes, etc. See also cuts under archipterygium, cara- 
pace, Catarrhina, elastnosaur, Elephantine, endoskeleton, 
epipleura, Equidse, fish, Ichthyomis, Ichthyosauria, Ichthy- 
osaurus, Mastodontinse, Mylodon, ox, Plesiosaurus, ptero- 
dactyl, and Pteropodidse ; also cuts under skull, and others 
there named. 
A skeleton, ferocious, tall, and gaunt : 
Whose loose teeth in their naked sockets shook, 
And grinn'd terrific a Sardonian look. 
Hart, Vision of Death. 
The bare-grinning skeleton of death ! 
Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien. 
2. The supporting framework of anything; 
the principal parts that support the rest, but 
without the appendages. 
The great structure itself, and its great integrals, the 
heavenly and elementary bodies, are framed in such a po- 
sition and situation, the great skeleton of the world. 
Sir M. Sale. 
3. An outline or rough draft of any kind ; spe- 
cifically, the outline of a literary performance : 
as, the skeleton of a sermon. 
The schemes of any of the arts or sciences may be ana- 
lyzed in a sort of skeleton, and represented upon tables, 
with the various dependencies of their several parts. 
Watte. 
4. Milit., a regiment whose numbers have be- 
come reduced by casualties, etc. 
The numerical strength of the regiments was greatly di- 
minished during their stay in camps, and it only required 
a single battle or a few nights passed in a malarious lo- 
cality to reduce them to skeletons. 
Comte de Paris, Civil War in America (trans.), I. 274. 
5. A very lean or much emaciated person; a 
mere shadow of a man. 
To paint Daniel Lambert or the living skeleton, the pig- 
faced lady or the Siamese twins, so that nobody can mis- 
take them, is an exploit within the reach of a signpainter. 
Macaulay, Madame D'Arblay. 
6. In printing, an exceedingly thin or con- 
densed form of light-faced type. Archetype 
skeleton, in camp. anat. , an ideal skeleton, constructed 
by Professor Owen, to which the endoskeletons of all the 
Vertebrata were referred as modifications. No animal is 
known to conform very closely to this assumed archetype. 
Dermal skeleton. See dermal, exoskeleton, and def. 1 
(17) (2), above. Family skeleton. Same as skeleton in 
the closet. Oral skeleton. See oral. Skeleton at the 
feast, a reminder of care, anxiety, or grief in the midst of 
pleasure : so used in allusion to the Egyptian custom of hav- 
ing a skeleton (or rather a mummy) at feasts as a reminder 
of death. Also called a death' i-head at the feast. Skele- 
ton in the closet, cupboard, or house, a secret source 
of fear, anxiety, or annoyance ; a hidden domestic trouble. 
II. a. 1. Of or pertaining to a skeleton; in 
the form of a skeleton; skeletal; lean. 
He was high-shouldered and bony, . . . and had a long, 
lank, skeleton hand. Dickens, David Copperfleld, xv. 
2. Consisting of a mere framework, outline, 
or combination of supporting parts: as, a skele- 
ton leaf; a skeleton crystal. 
He kept a skeleton diary, from which to refresh his mind 
in narrating the experience of those seventeen days. 
The Century, XL. 307. 
5687 
Skeleton bill, a signed blank paper stamped with n bill- 
stamp. The subscriber is held the drawer or acceptor, as 
it may be, of any bill afterward written above his name 
for any sum which the stamp will cover. Skeleton boot. 
See boot-. Skeleton drill, a drill for officers when men 
are wanting to form a battalion in single rank. A skele- 
ton battalion is formed of companies of '2, 4, or 8 men each, 
representing, if there are 2, the flanks of the company ; if 
there are 4, the flanks of half-companies; if there are 8, 
the Hanks of sections. The intervals between the flanks 
are preserved by means of a piece of rope held at the ends 
to its full extent. Skeleton form, a form of type or 
plate?, prepared for press, in which blanks are largely in 
excess of print. Skeleton frame, in spinning, a form or 
frame in which the usual can is replaced by a skeleton. 
E. U. K night. skeleton key. See freyi. Skeleton 
plow. See plow. Skeleton suit, a suit of clothes con- 
sisting of a tight-fitting jacket and pair of trousers, the 
trousers being buttoned to the jacket. Skeleton wagon, 
a very light form of four-wheeled driving-wagon used with 
racing-horses. 
skeleton (skel'e-ton), v. t. [< skeleton, n.] To 
skeletonize. 
A recipe for skeletoning and bleaching leaves. 
SCT. Amer., N. S., LVIII. 203. 
skeleton-face (skel'e-ton-fas), . A style of 
type of which the stems or thick strokes are 
unusually thin. 
skeletonize (skel'e-ton-iz), v. t.; pret. and pp. 
skeletonized, ppr. skeletonizing. [< skeleton + 
-ize.] 1. To reduce to a skeleton, as by re- 
moving the flesh or other soft tissues from the 
framework; make a skeleton or mere frame- 
work of or from : as, to skeletonize a leaf by eat- 
ing out its soft parts, as an insect, or by remov- 
ing them by maceration: particularly said of 
the preparation of skeletons as objects of study. 
One large bull which I skeletonized had had his humerus 
shot squarely in two, but it had united again more firmly 
than ever. 
W. T. Hornaday, Smithsonian Report, 1887, ii. 426. 
It is like seeing a skeletonized leaf instead of a leaf filled 
with its fresh green tissues. The Century, XXXVII. 732. 
2. Milit., to reduce the size or numbers of ; de- 
plete : as, a skeletonized army. 
skeletonize! (skel'e-ton-I-zer), n. In entom., 
an insect which eats the parenchyma of leaves, 
leaving the skeleton: as, the apple-leaf skeletou- 
izer, Pempelia hammondi. 
skeletonless (skel'e-tqn-les), a. [< skeleton + 
-less.] Having no skeleton. Amer. Nat.,XXll. 
894. 
skeleton-screw (skel'e-ton-skrci), n. A skele- 
ton-shrimp. 
skeleton-shrimp (skel'e-ton -shrimp), H. A 
small, slender crustacean of the family Caprel- 
lidae,a,s CapreUa linearis; a specter-shrimp; a 
mantis-shrimp. Also called skeleton-screw. 
skeleton-spicule (skel'e-ton-spik"ul), n. In 
sponges, one of the skeletal spicules, or sup- 
porting spicules of the skeleton ; a megasclere, 
as distinguished from a flesh-spicule or micro- 
sclere. See spicule. 
skeletonwise (skel'e-ton-wlz), adv. In the 
manner of a skeleton, framework, or outline. 
Amer. Jour. Psychol., I. 382. 
skeletotrophic (skel"e-to-trof'ik), a. [< Gr. 
ane^erov, a skeleton, + rpoip?/, nourishment, < rpf- 
<t>siv, nourish.] Pertaining to the skeleton or 
framework of the body and to its blood-vascu- 
lar system. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 634. 
skell (skel), n. An obsolete or dialectal form 
of shell. Halliwell. 
Othir fysch to flet with fyne, 
Sum with skale and sum with skell. 
York Plays, p. 12. 
skellet (skel'et), n. An obsolete or dialectal 
form of skillet. 
skelloch 1 ( skel'och), 0. i. [Cf.Ieel.skella, clash, 
clang, rattle, etc., causal of skjalla, clash, clat- 
ter, etc. : see scold.] To cry with a shrill voice. 
Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
skelloch 1 (skel'och), n. l< skelloch 1 , v.] A shrill 
cry; a squall. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
Skelloch 2 (skel'och), re. [Also skeldock; < Gael. 
sgeallag, also (as in Ir.) sgeallaaach, sgeallan, 
wild mustard. Cf. charlock.] The wild radish 
(see radish); also, the charlock. Jamieson. 
[Scotch.] 
skellumt (skel'um), n. [Also scellum, shellmii ; 
< D. schelm = MLG. schelme, schelmer, rogue, 
knave, schelm, corpse, carrion, etc., < OHG. scel- 
mo, scalmo, MHG. schelme, schelm, plague, pes- 
tilence, those fallen in battle, a rogue, rascal, 
G. schelm, knave, rogue. Cf. Icel. skelmir, 
rogue, devil, = Sw. ska'lm = Dan. skjelm = F. 
schelme, rogue, also < G.] A scoundrel; a 
worthless fellow. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
He [Dr. Creeton] ripped up Hugh Peters (calling him 
the execrable skelluni), his preaching and stirring up the 
mayds of the city to bring in their bodkins and thimbles. 
Pepus, Diary, April 3, 1603. 
sken 
She tauld thee weel thou wast a skellum, 
A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum. 
Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. 
skelly 1 (skel'i), r. '. ; pret. and pp. skellied, ppr. 
nki'lli/ini/. [Sc. also skcely, scalic ; < Dan. skelc = 
Sw. Kkclti = MHG. sclii/1/cn, G. schielen, squint: 
see /(// w 1 , shoal 1 .] To squint. [Prov. Eng. 
and Scotch.] 
" It is the very man ! " said Bothwell ; " skellits fearfully 
with one eye 1" Scott, Old Mortality, iv. 
Skelly 1 (skel'i), n. [< skelly 1 , t'.] A squint. 
Brin'ki II ; Jiiuiieson. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
skelly 1 (skel'i), a. [Cf. skellyl, v.] Squinting. 
Jiimicson. [Scotch.] 
skelly 2 (skel'i), 11. [Perhaps so called from its 
large scales; (.skell + -y l ; cf. scaly.] A fish, 
the chub. Kartell. [Local, Eng.] 
skelos (ske'los), H.; pi. skelea (ske'le-a). [NL., 
< Gr. OTf/'.of, the leg.] The whole hind limb of 
any vertebrate, consisting of the meros (thigh), 
erus (leg), and pes (foot) : the antithesis is ar- 
mus. Wilder and Gage, Anat. Tech., p. 39. 
skelp 1 (skelp), v. [<ME. skelpen; <G&el.sgealp, 
strike with the palm of the hand, sgealp, a 
blow with the palm of the hand, a slap, a quick, 
sudden sound.] I. trans. 1. To strike, espe- 
cially with the open hand ; slap ; spank. [Ob- 
solete or prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Sir knyghtis that ar comly, take this caystiff in keping, 
Skelpe hyin with scourges and with skathes hym scorne. 
York Plays, p. 331. 
I'm sure sma' pleasure it can gi'e, 
E'en to a de'il, 
To skelp an' scaud puir dogs like me, 
An' hear us squeel ! 
Burns, Address to the De'il. 
2. To kick severely. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. intrans. 1. To beat, as a clock. [Scotch.] 
Baith night and day my lane I skelp; 
Wind up my weights but anes a week, 
Without him I can gang and speak. 
Ramsay, Poems, II. 557. (Jamieson.) 
2. To move rapidly or briskly along; hurry; 
run; bound. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Tarn skelfit on through dub and mire, 
Despising wind, and rain, and fire. 
Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. 
3. To leap awkwardly. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
skelp 1 (skelp), H. [< ME. skelp; < sifcsZp 1 . v.] 1. 
A slap ; a stroke ; a blow. [Prov. Eng. or 
Scotch.] 
With schath of skelpys yll scarred 
Fro tyme that youre tene he haue tasted. 
York Plays, p. 321. 
Whene'er I forgather wi' sorrow an' care, 
I gi'e them a skelp as they're creepin' alang, 
Wi' a cog o' gude swats, an' an auld Scottish sang. 
Burns, Contented wi' Little. 
2. A squall; a heavy fall of rain. Jamieson. 
[Scotch.] 3. A large portion. Compare skelp- 
er, 2, and skelping. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
skelp 2 (skelp), n. [Origin obscure.] A strip 
of iron prepared for making a pipe or tube by 
bending it round a bar and welding it. Those 
made for gun-barrels are thicker at one end 
than at the other. 
skelp-bender (skelp'ben"der), n. A machine 
for bending iron strips into skelps. It consists of 
a die of the required form made in two parts which open 
on a slide to receive the end of a strip, and are closed by 
a lever. The end is bent to shape, and the strip is then 
seized by appropriate mechanism, and drawn through the 
die. E. H. Knii/ht. 
skelper (skel'per), n. 1. One who skelps or 
strikes. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
That vile Aiyup-skelper Emperor Joseph. 
Burns, To a Gentleman who had sent a Newspaper. 
2. Anything very large. Halliwell. 
Eng.] 
[Prov. 
Skelping (skel'ping), a. [Prop. ppr. of skelpl, 
v.] Full ; bursting ; very large. Grose. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
skelter (skel'ter), v. i. [See helter-skelter.] To 
rush; hurry; dash along. Compare helter-skel- 
ter. [Prov. Eng.] 
After the long dry, skeltering wind of March and part 
of April, there had been a fortnight of soft wet. 
R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, xxii. 
skelton (skel'ton), H. An obsolete or dialectal 
form of skeleton. 
Skeltonical (skel-ton'i-kal), a. [< Skelton (see 
def.) + -ic-al.] Pertaining to, or characteristic 
or imitative of, John Skelton (1460?-1529) or 
his poetry. 
His [Skelton's] most characteristic form, known as Skel- 
tonical verse, is wayward and unconventional adopted 
as if in mad defiance of regular metre. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 120. 
sken (sken), o. i. Same as syuean, squine. [Ob- 
solete or prov. Eng.] 
