skin definition

English skin definition

Etymology

From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą (compare Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”)), from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”) (compare Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish ceinn, Irish scainim (“I tear, burst”), Latin scindere (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “he splits”)), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), see hide. More at shed.

Pronunciation

• enPR: skĭn, IPA^(key): /skɪn/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪn

Noun

skin (countable and uncountable, plural skins)

1. (uncountable) The outer protective layer of the body of any animal, including of a human.
   • 2020, Abi Daré, The Girl With The Louding Voice, Sceptre, page 184:

     Her skin is pale like chicken skin, after you have peel[ed] all the feathers.

   He is so disgusting he makes my skin crawl.

2. (uncountable) The outer protective layer of the fruit of a plant.
3. (countable) The skin and fur of an individual animal used by humans for clothing, upholstery, etc.
4. (countable) A congealed layer on the surface of a liquid.

   In order to get to the rest of the paint in the can, you′ll have to remove the skin floating on top of it.

6. (countable, computing, graphical user interface) A set of resources that modifies the appearance and/or layout of the graphical user interface of a computer program.

   You can use this skin to change how the browser looks.

7. (countable, video games) An alternate appearance (texture map or geometry) for a character model in a video game.
8. (countable, slang) Rolling paper for cigarettes.

   Pass me a skin, mate.

9. (countable, slang) Clipping of skinhead.
   • 2017, Christian Picciolini, White American Youth

     By the end of the show, fights would break out all over the place: the Atlantic City skins against the crew from Philly; the oldschool skinheads feuding with overzealous fresh-cuts.

10. (Australia) A subgroup of Australian aboriginal people; such divisions are cultural and not related to an individual′s physical skin. ^[1]
    • 1984, Maxwell John Charlesworth, ‎Howard Morphy, ‎Diane Bell, Religion in Aboriginal Australia: An Anthology (page 361)

      The younger brother questions the correctness of the pursuit of the girls. "They may be of the wrong subsection," he suggests. "We can take wrong skins," says the older brother, but the younger still holds back.

11. (slang) Bare flesh, particularly bare breasts.

    Let me see a bit of skin.

12. A vessel made of skin, used for holding liquids.
    • 1843, Richard Henry Horne, Orion

      the Bacchic train,
      Who brought their skins of wine, and loaded poles
      That bent with mighty clusters of black grapes

13. (nautical) That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole.
    • (Can we date this quote?) “Textile Technology Digest”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

      The skin of the sail is made of stretch-resistant Mylar

14. (nautical) 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.
15. (aviation) The outer surface covering much of the wings and fuselage of an aircraft.
16. A drink of whisky served hot.
17. (slang, Ireland, Britain) person, chap

    He was a decent old skin.

    • 2019, Joe Murragh, Colin Barrett, Calm With Horses, spoken by Paudi (Ned Dennehy), 54:50 from the start:

      PAUDI:”I fucking love the pair of ye! You’re good lads. You’re loyal skins”

18. (UK, thieves slang, obsolete) A purse.
    • 1863, George William MacArthur Reynolds, The Mysteries of the Court of London (volume 3, page 86)

      […] and away I scampered with the tiddlywink-table, while Teddy Limber […] frisked the yokel of his yack and skin.

Synonyms

• (outer covering of living tissue): dermis, integument, tegument
• (outer protective layer of a plant or animal): peel (of fruit or vegetable), pericarp
• (skin of an animal used by humans): hide, pelt
• (congealed layer on the surface of a liquid): film
• (subgroup of Australian Aboriginals): moiety, section, subsection

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• cutaneous
• cutis
• dermis
• epidermis

References

• skin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

skin (third-person singular simple present skins, present participle skinning, simple past and past participle skinned)

1. (transitive) To injure the skin of.

   He fell off his bike and skinned his knee on the concrete.

2. (transitive) To remove the skin and/or fur of an animal or a human.
3. (colloquial) To high five.
4. (transitive, computing, colloquial) To apply a skin to (a computer program).

   Can I skin the application to put the picture of my cat on it?

5. (UK, soccer, transitive) To use tricks to go past a defender.
   • 2011 January 30, Kevin Darlng, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Huddersfield”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     The Russian, sometimes out of sorts in recent weeks, was seeing plenty of the ball on the left-hand side up against Hunt, a 20-year-old right-back making his first Huddersfield start. Arshavin skinned the youngster at the first opportunity and crossed for Bendtner, who could not direct his close-range effort on target.

6. (intransitive) To become covered with skin.

   A wound eventually skins over.

7. (transitive) To cover with skin, or as if with skin; hence, to cover superficially.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv]:

     It will but skin and film the ulcerous place.

8. (US, slang, archaic) To produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own, or to use cribs, memoranda, etc., which are prohibited.
9. (slang, dated) To strip of money or property; to cheat.

Synonyms

• (injure the skin of): bark, chafe, excoriate, graze, scrape
• (remove the skin of): flay, fleece, flense, scalp

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• -kins, Sink, inks, k'ins, kins, sink

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Abinomn skin definition

Noun

skin

1. star

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Cimbrian skin definition

Etymology

From Norwegian ski +‎ -an (infinitive suffix).

Verb

skin

1. (Luserna) to ski

Noun

skin n

1. (Luserna) skiing

References

• “skin” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

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Danish skin definition

Noun

skin n (singular definite skinnet, not used in plural form)

1. light, glare
2. semblance

Verb

skin

1. imperative of skinne

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Dutch skin definition

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Noun

skin m or f (plural skins, diminutive skinnetje n)

1. (computing) Skin
2. Short for skinhead.

Anagrams

• niks, snik

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Icelandic skin definition

Etymology

From skína (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /scɪːn/
• Rhymes: -ɪːn

  Homophone: skyn

Noun

skin n (genitive singular skins, nominative plural skin)

1. shine, shimmer, brightness

Declension

Derived terms

• sólskin

Anagrams

• sink

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Middle English skin definition

Noun

skin

1. Alternative form of skyn

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Norwegian Nynorsk skin definition

Verb

skin

1. inflection of skina:
   1. present
   2. imperative

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Old Saxon skin definition

Etymology

From skīnan.

Noun

skīn n

1. shine

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Portuguese skin definition

Noun

skin f (plural skins)

1. (computing) skin (image used as the background of a graphical user interface)
2. (countable, video games) skin (alternate appearance (texture map or geometry) for a 3D character model in a video game)

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Swedish skin definition

Verb

skin

1. imperative of skina.

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Tok Pisin skin definition

Etymology

English skin

Noun

skin

1. (anatomy) skin
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:21:

     Orait God, Bikpela i mekim man i slip i dai tru. Na taim man i slip yet, God i kisim wanpela bun long banis bilong man na i pasim gen skin bilong dispela hap.

     →New International Version translation

Derived terms

• skin pas (envelope)

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Volapük skin definition

Noun

skin (nominative plural skins)

1. skin

Declension

Derived terms