skeleton

Meanings

• something reduced to its minimal form
  • "the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self"
  • "the bare skeleton of a novel"
• a scandal that is kept secret
  • "there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet"
• the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal
• the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
  • "the building has a steel skeleton"

Synonyms

frame, skeletal frame, skeletal system, skeleton in the closet, skeleton in the cupboard, systema skeletale, underframe