skin 
3. To strip or peel off; remove by turning baek 
and ilrawing off inside out. [Colloq.] 
S/fitt the stockings off. . . . or you'll bust 'em. 
Dickens, Great Expectations, \x\i. 
4. To strip of valuable properties or posses- 
sions; fleece; plunder: rob; cheat; swindle. 
[Slang, U. S.] 
The jury had orter consider how rilin' 'tis tuh have a 
feller gkin ye out er fifty dollars all the money ye got. 
The Century, XL. 214. 
The skinning of the land by sending away its substance 
in hard wheat is an improvidence of natural resources. 
Uarpers Hag., LXXVI. 559. 
5. To copy or pretend to learn by employment 
of irregular or forbidden expedients, as a col- 
lege exercise : as, to skin an example in mathe- 
matics by copying the solution. [College slang.] 
Never skin a lesson which it requires any ability to 
learn. Yale Lit. Mag., XV. 81. 
Classical men were continually tempted to skin (copy) 
the solutions of these examples. 
C. A. Bristed, English University, p. 457. 
Skinned cat, the burbot, or fresh-water ling, Lota macu- 
losn : a trade-name. [Lake Michigan.] Skinned rab- 
bit, a very lean person. To skin a flint. See flint. 
To Skin the cat, in gymnastic exercises, to raise the feet 
and legs upward between the arms extended from a bar, 
and then draw the body over. To skin up a sail (naut.), 
to make that part of the canvas which covers the sail when 
furled smooth and neat, by turning the sail well up on the 
yards. 
II. intraiis. 1. To become covered with skin; 
grow a new skin; cicatrize: as, a wound skins 
over. 2. To accomplish anything by irregu- 
lar, underhand, or dishonest means; specifical- 
ly, in college use, to employ forbidden or un- 
fair methods or expedients in preparing for 
recitation or examination. [Slang.] 
" In our examinations," says a correspondent, " many of 
the fellows cover the palms of their hands with dates, 
and when called upon for a given date, they read it off 
directly from their hands. Such persons skin." 
B. H. Hall, College Words and Customs, p. 430. 
3. To slip away; abscond; make off. [Slang.] 
To skin out. (a) To depart hastily and secretly ; slip 
away. [Slang.] 
Sitting Bull skinned <mt from the Yellowstone Valley 
and sought refuge in Canada. New York Times. 
(6) To range wide, as a dog in the field. Sportsman's 
Gazetteer. 
skin-area (skin'a"re-a), n. See skin-friction. 
skin-boat (skin'bot), "n. A coracle, or rawhide 
boat; a bull-boat. See cut under coracle. 
skin-bone (skin'bon), n. An ossification in or 
of the skin ; any dermal bone. 
skin-bound (skin'bound), a. Having the skin 
drawn tightly over the flesh ; hidebound skin- 
bound disease, (a) Sclerodermia. (6) Sclerema neona- 
torum. 
skinch (skinch), v. [A var. of skimp, with termi- 
nal variation as in bump 2 , bunch?, hump, hunch. 
Of. skingy."] I. trans. To stint; scrimp; give 
short allowance of. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. intrant*. To be sparing or parsimonious ; 
pinch; save. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
skinck, . Same as skinlfl. 
skin-coat (skin'kot), . The skin. 
You are the hare of whom the proverb goes, 
Whose valour plucks dead lions by the beard : 
111 smoke your skin-coat, an I catch you right. 
Shak., K. John, ii. 1. 139. 
To curry one's skin-coat, to beat a person severely. 
Halliwell. 
skin-deep (skin'dep'), o. Not penetrating or 
extending deeper than the thickness of the 
skin; superficial. 
That " beauty is only skindeep " is itself but a skindeep 
observation. H. Spencer. 
skin-deep (skin'dep'), ado. In a superficial 
manner; superficially; slightly. 
skin-eater (skin'e"ter), n. An insect that preys 
upon or infests prepared skins, as furs and 
specimens of natural history. ( a ) One of various 
tineid moths. (6) A beetle of the family Dermestulee: a 
museum-pest. 
skinflint (skin'flint), n. [< skin, v., + obj. 
flint."] One who makes use of contemptible 
means to get or save money ; a mean, niggard- 
ly, or avaricious person ; a miser. 
"It would have been long." said Oldbuck, . . . "ere my 
womankind could have made such a reasonable bargain 
with that old skin-flint." Scott, Antiquary, xi. 
Skin-friction (skin'frik"shon), . The friction 
between a solid and a fluid, arising from the 
drag exerted on the surface of the body by the 
fluid particles sliding past it. The area of the 
immersed surface of a body is called its *//- 
area. 
The two principal causes of the resistance to the mo- 
tion of a ship are the skin friction and the production 
of waves. Encye. Brit., XII. 518. 
5673 
skinful (skin'tul), H. [< skin + -//.] 1. The 
contents of a full leather skin or bag. See 
xl.-iii. n., 4. 
Well do I remember how at each well the first skinful 
was tasted all around. The Century, XXIX. 662. 
2. As much as one can contain, especially of 
strong drink of any kind: as, a xkinfiil of beer. 
He wept to think each thoughtless youth 
Contained of wickedness a skinful. 
W. S. Gilbert, Sir Macklin. 
skin-game (skin'gam), n. A game, as of cards, 
in which one player has no chance against an- 
other, as when the cards are stocked or other 
tricks are played to cheat or fleece ; any con- 
fidence-game. [Slang.] 
skin-graft (skin'graft), n. Same as grafft, 3. 
To facilitate the process of healing, skin-grafts were 
transferred from the arm. Medical News, LII. 418. 
Skin-grafting (skin'graf'ting), n. An opera- 
tion whereby particles of healthy skin are trans- 
planted from the body of the same or another 
person to a wound or burned surface, to form 
a new skin. Also called Beverdin's operation or 
method. 
I had been doing "quill-grafting" in the same manner 
that "skin-ijraftiivj" is done to-day. 
Medical News, LII. 276. 
Skingy (skin'ji), a. [Var. of "skinchy, < skinch 
+ -y'.] 1. Stingy. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
2. Cold; nipping: noting the weather. 
Hnlliirell. [Prov. Eng.] 
skin-house (skin'hous), . A gambling-house 
where skin-games are played. [Slang, U. S.] 
skink 1 (skingk), v. [< ME. skinken, skynken, 
usually assibilated Menken, schenken, schenchen, 
< AS. seenean, pour out drink, = OFries. skenka, 
schanka = D. schenken = MLG. schenken = OHG. 
scenkan, scenchan, MHG. G. schenken (> OF. es- 
cancei; pour out drink) = Icel. skenkja, serve, 
drink, fill one's cup, = Sw. skdnka = Dan. 
skjeenke, pour out, drink; prob. orig. pour or 
draw through a pipe, from the noun represented 
by shank 1 : see shank 1 . Cf . nuncheon. For the 
form skink, as related to "shench, ME. sclienchen, 
cf. drink, drench 1 .'] I. trans. 1. To draw or 
pour out (liquor) ; serve for drinking ; offer or 
present (drink, etc.). 
Bacus the wyn hem skynketh al aboute. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 478. 
Our glass of life runs wine, the vintner skinks it. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Malta, iii. 1. 
2. To fill with liquor; pour liquor into. 
Weoren tha bernes [men], 
i-scxngte mid beore, 
& tha drihliche gumen, 
weoren win-drunken. Layamon, 1. 8124. 
I'll have them skink my standing bowls with wine. 
Greene and Lodge, Looking Glass for Lond. and Eng. 
II. intrans. To draw, pour out, or serve 
liquor or drink. 
For that cause [they] called this new city by the name 
of Naloi : that is, skinck or poure in. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 480. 
Where every jovial tinker for his chink 
May cry, mine host, to crambe, "Give us drink, 
And do not slink, but skink." 
B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 3. 
Fair Annie's taen a silver can, 
Afore the bride to skink. 
Skioen Annie; Fair Annie (Child's Ballads, III. 388). 
[Now provincial in all senses.] 
Skink 1 (skingk), n. [= MLG. schenke = MHG. 
schenke, G. ge-schenk, drink, = Icel. skenkr, the 
serving of drink at a meal, present, = Sw. skank 
= Dan. skjsenk, sideboard, bar, also gift, pres- 
ent, donation ; from the verb.] 1. Drink; any 
liquor used as a beverage. 
The wine ! there was hardly half a mutchkin, and puir, 
thin, fusionless skink it was. Scott, St. Bonan's Well. 
2. A skinker. See the quotation. [Prov. Eng.] 
In a family the person latest at breakfast is called the 
skink, or the skinker, and some domestic office is imposed 
or threatened for the day, such as ringing the bell, put- 
ting coal on the flre, or, in other cases, drawing the beer 
for the family. Halliwell. 
skink 2 (skingk), n. [= OFries. skimka, schonk, 
leg, bone, ham, = D. schonk, a bone in a piece of 
meat, = G. schinken, a ham, etc. : see shank 1 . 
Cf. skink 1 ."] A shin-bone of beef; also, soup 
made with a shin of beef or other sinewy parts. 
[Scotch.] 
Scotch skinck, which is a pottage of strong nutriment, is 
made with the knees and sinews of beef, but long boiled. 
!': ic,: n, Nat. Hist., 45. 
skink 3 (skingk), H. [Also seine, and formerly 
scink, scinque; = F. scinque; < L. scincos,sciit- 
cus, < Gr. oKiyKoi;, a kind of lizard common in 
Asia and Africa, prob. the adda.] A scincoid 
lizard ; any member of the family Scincidx in 
skinner 
a broad sense, as the adda. ><///<* njUfinnlix. 
to which the name probably lirst attached. They 
are harmless creatures, some inches long, natives mostly 
of warm countries, with small, sometimes rudimentary 
Skink ( 
limbs, and generally smooth scales. Those with well- 
formed legs resemble other lizards, but some (as of the 
scarcely separable family Anguidx) are more snake-like 
or even worm-like, as the slow-worm of Europe. Common 
skiuks in the United States are the blue-tailed, Eumecesfas- 
ciatus, and the cround-skink, Oligosoma laterale. See An- 
guis, Eumeces, Seps, and cuts under Cyclodus and Scincus. 
Th' horned Cerastes, th' Alexandrian Skink, 
Th' Adder, and Drynas (full of odious stink). 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 6. 
skinker (sking'ker), . [< skink 1 + -er 1 .] One 
who draws or pours out liquor; a tapster; a 
server of drink ; hence, the landlord of an ale- 
house or tavern. [Obsolete or provincial.] 
Jack skinker, fill it full ; 
A pledge unto the health of heavenly Alvlda. 
Greene and Lodge, Looking Glass for Lond. and Eng. 
A little further off, some old-fashioned skinkers and 
drawers, all with portentously red noses, were spreading 
a banquet on the leaf-strewn earth. 
Hawthorne, Blithedale Romance, p. 245. 
skinking (sking'king), n. [Prop. ppr. of skink 1 , 
v.] Watery; thin; washy. [Scotch.] 
Ye pow'rs wha mak' mankind your care, 
And dish them out their bill o' fare, 
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware 
That jaups in luggies. Burns, To a Haggis. 
skinkle 1 (sking'kl), v. t. [Freq. of skink 1 .'] To 
sprinkle. [Scotch.] 
skinkle 2 (sking'kl), v. i. ; pret. and pp. skinkled, 
ppr. skinkling. [Appar. a remote freq. of shine 
(AS. scinan).] To sparkle; glisten. [Scotch.] 
The cleading that fair Annet had on, 
It skinkled in their een. 
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet (Child's Ballads, II. 128). 
skinless (skin'los), a. [< skin + -less.] Hav- 
ing no skin, or having a very thin skin: as, 
skinless fruit. 
In the midst of all this chaos grinned from the chimney- 
piece ... a tall cast of Michael Angelo's well-known 
skinless model. C. Kingsley, Alton Locke, vi. 
Skinless oat. See oat. Skinless pea. See jwai, l. 
skinlett (skin'let), n. Thin skin. [Rare.] 
Cuticola, any filme, or skinlet, or thin rinde or pille. 
Florio, 1611. 
skin-merchant (skin'mer'ehant), n. 1 . A deal- 
er in skins. Hence 2. A recruiting-officer. 
[Slang.] 
I am a manufacturer of honour and glory vulgarly 
call'd a recruiting dealer, or more vulgarly still, a skin- 
merchant. Burgoyne, Lord of the Manor, iii. 2. 
skinned (skind), a. [< ME. skynned; < skin + 
-erf 2 .] Having a skin : chiefly in composition 
with a descriptive adjective : as, thick-sWnnerf, 
thin-skinned. 
In another Yle ben folk that gon upon hire Hondes and 
hire Feet, as Bestes : and thei ben alle skynned and fedred, 
and the! wolde lepen als lightly in to Trees, and fro Tree 
to Tree, as it were Squyrelles or Apes. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 206. 
Oh here they come. They are delicately skinn'd and 
limb'd. Brome, Jovial Crew, iii. 
skinner (skin'er), . [< ME. skinnere, ski/nner, 
skynnare = Icel. skinnari = Sw. skinnare = 
Dan. dial, skinder, a dealer in skins, a skinner, 
tanner; as skin, n., + -er 1 . In sense of 'one 
who skins' the word is later, = D. schinder 
= LG. srliinner = MHG. G. schinder; as skin, 
v., + -er 1 .] 1. One who deals in skins of any 
sort, as hides, furs, or parchments ; a furrier. 
We haue sent you a Skinner, ... to viewe and see such 
furres as you shall cheape or buye. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 298. 
2. One who removes the skin, as from animals ; 
a flayer. 
Then the Hockster immediately mounts, and rides after 
more game, leaving the other to the skinners, who are at 
hand, and ready to take off his hide. 
Dampier, Voyages, an. 1676. 
3. One who strips or robs; a plunderer; spe- 
cifically [cap.], in U. S. hist., one of a body of 
