skin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• 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.

   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.

5. (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.

6. (countable, slang) Rolling paper for cigarettes.

   Pass me a skin, mate.

7. (countable, slang) Clipping of skinhead.
8. (Australia) A subgroup of Australian aboriginal people; such divisions are cultural and not related to an individual′s physical skin. ^[1]
9. (countable, video games) An alternate appearance (texture map or geometry) for a 3D character model in a video game.
10. (slang) Bare flesh, particularly bare breasts.

    Let me see a bit of skin.

11. A vessel made of skin, used for holding liquids.
    • Tennyson

      skins of wine

12. (nautical) That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Totten to this entry?)

13. (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.

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

     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.
   • Shakespeare

     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.

References

Anagrams

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

Noun

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

1. light, glare
2. semblance

Verb

skin

1. imperative of skinne

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

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

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

Anagrams

• niks, snik

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

Anagrams

• sink

Verb

skin

1. present tense of skina
2. imperative of skina

Etymology

From skīnan.

Noun

skīn n

1. shine

Noun

skin f (plural skins)

1. (computing) skin (image used as the background of a graphical user interface)

Verb

skin

1. imperative of skina.

Etymology

English skin

Noun

skin

1. (anatomy) skin
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Genesis 2:21 (translation here):

     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.

Noun

skin (plural skins)

1. skin