• noun:   the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape

  Example: "The building has a steel skeleton"

• noun:   a scandal that is kept secret

  Example: "There must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet"

• noun:   something reduced to its minimal form

  Example: "The battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"

• noun:   the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal

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