Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

skin       (skĭn)  Pronunciation Key  (click for larger image in new window) n.   The membranous tissue forming the external covering or integument of an animal and consisting in vertebrates of the epidermis and dermis. An animal pelt, especially the comparatively pliable pelt of a small or young animal: a tent made of goat skins. A usually thin, closely adhering outer layer: the skin of a peach; a sausage skin; the skin of an aircraft. A container for liquids that is made of animal skin. Music A drumhead. Informal One's life or physical survival: They lied to save their skins. v.   skinned, skin·ning, skins v.   tr. To remove skin from: skinned and gutted the rabbit. To bruise, cut, or injure the skin or surface of: She skinned her knee. To remove (an outer covering); peel off: skin off the thin bark. To cover with or as if with skin: skin the framework of a canoe. Slang To fleece; swindle. v.   intr. To become covered with or as if with skin: In January the pond skins over with ice. To pass with little room to spare: We barely skinned by. adj.   Slang Of, relating to, or depicting pornography: skin magazines. [Middle English, from Old Norse skinn; see sek- in Indo-European roots.] skin'less adj.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
skin  (n.)

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

skin
noun
1.	a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch; "your skin is the largest organ of your body"
2.	an outer surface (usually thin); "the skin of an airplane"
3.	body covering of a living animal [syn: hide]
4.	a person's skin regarded as their life; "he tried to save his skin"
5.	the rind of a fruit or vegetable [syn: peel]
6.	a bag serving as a container for liquids; it is made from the hide of an animal
verb
1.	climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling [syn: clamber]
2.	bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of; "The boy skinned his knee when he fell"
3.	remove the bark of a tree [syn: bark]
4.	strip the skin off; "pare apples"

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

skin

In addition to the idioms beginning with skin, also see beauty is only skin deep; by the skin of one's teeth; get under someone's skin; jump out of one's skin; make one's flesh creep (skin crawl); more than one way to skin a cat; no skin off one's nose; save one's bacon (skin); soaked to the skin; thick skin.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

skin       (skĭn)  Pronunciation Key  The outer covering of a vertebrate animal, consisting of two layers of cells, a thick inner layer (the dermis) and a thin outer layer (the epidermis). Structures such as hair, scales, or feathers are contained in the skin, as are fat cells, sweat glands, and sensory receptors. Skin provides a protective barrier against disease-causing microorganisms and against the sun's ultraviolet rays. In warm-blooded animals, it aids in temperature regulation, as by insulating against the cold.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
skin

The external tissue that covers the body. As the body's largest organ (it makes up about one twenty-fifth of an adult's weight), the skin serves as a waterproof covering that helps keep out pathogens and protects against temperature extremes and sunlight. The skin also contains special nerve endings that respond to touch, pressure, heat, and cold. The skin has an outer layer, or epidermis, and a layer immediately below, called the dermis.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

skin (skĭn)
n.
The membranous tissue forming an external protective covering or integument of an animal and consisting of the epidermis and dermis. v. skinned, skin·ning, skins
To bruise, cut, or injure the skin of.

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skin'less adj.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Skin

Skin\, n. [Icel. skinn; akin to Sw. skinn, Dan. skind, AS. scinn, G. schined to skin.]

1. (Anat.) The external membranous integument of an animal.

Note: In man, and the vertebrates generally, the skin consist of two layers, an outer nonsensitive and nonvascular epidermis, cuticle, or skarfskin, composed of cells which are constantly growing and multiplying in the deeper, and being thrown off in the superficial, layers; and an inner sensitive, and vascular dermis, cutis, corium, or true skin, composed mostly of connective tissue.

2. The hide of an animal, separated from the body, whether green, dry, or tanned; especially, that of a small animal, as a calf, sheep, or goat.

3. A vessel made of skin, used for holding liquids. See Bottle, 1. "Skins of wine." --Tennyson.

4. The bark or husk of a plant or fruit; the exterior coat of fruits and plants.

5. (Naut.) (a) That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole. --Totten. (b) The covering, as of planking or iron plates, outside the framing, forming the sides and bottom of a vessel; the shell; also, a lining inside the framing.

Skin friction, Skin resistance (Naut.), the friction, or resistance, caused by the tendency of water to adhere to the immersed surface (skin) of a vessel.

Skin graft (Surg.), a small portion of skin used in the process of grafting. See Graft, v. t., 2.

Skin moth (Zo["o]l.), any insect which destroys the prepared skins of animals, especially the larva of Dermestes and Anthrenus.

Skin of the teeth, nothing, or next to nothing; the least possible hold or advantage. --Job xix. 20.

Skin wool, wool taken from dead sheep.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Skin

Skin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Skinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Skinning.]

1. To strip off the skin or hide of; to flay; to peel; as, to skin an animal.

2. To cover with skin, or as with skin; hence, to cover superficially.

It will but skin and film the ulcerous place. --Shak.

3. To strip of money or property; to cheat. [Slang]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Skin

Skin\, v. i. 1. To become covered with skin; as, a wound skins over.

2. To produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own, or to use in such exercise cribs, memeoranda, etc., which are prohibited. [College Cant, U.S.]