Definition of “skin” - English Dictionary

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“skin” in English

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skinnoun

uk ​ /skɪn/ us ​ /skɪn/

skin noun (NATURAL COVERING)

B1 [ C or U ] the natural outer layer that covers a person, animal, fruit, etc.:

dark/fair/pale/tanned skin
skin cancer
Babies have soft skins.
a banana/potato skin

B1 [ C or U ] the skin of an animal that has been removed from the body, with or without the hair or fur:

Native Americans used to trade skins .
a rug made from the skin of a lion
See also
lambskin
sheepskin

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

-skin
suffix uk ​ / -skɪn/ us ​ / -skɪn/

›

He was wearing an old sheepskin coat.
-skinned
suffix uk ​ / -skɪnd/ us ​ / -skɪnd/

›

pale-skinned

Idiom(s)

be no skin off sb's nose
be skin and bone(s)
by the skin of your teeth
get under sb's skin
jump/leap out of your skin
make sb's skin crawl

skinverb [ T ]

uk ​ /skɪn/ us ​ /skɪn/ -nn-

› to remove the skin of something:

The hunters skinned the deer they had killed.
I skinned my knee (= hurt my knee by rubbing skin off it) when I fell down the steps.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Idiom(s)

skin sb alive

(Definition of “skin” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“skin” in American English

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skinnoun

us ​ /skɪn/

skin noun (BODY COVER)

› [ C/U ] the natural outer layer that covers a person or animal:

[ C ] leopard skins
[ U ] He had dark, leathery skin.

skin noun (FRUIT/VEGETABLE COVER)

› [ C ] the outer covering of some fruits and vegetables:

potato skins

skin noun (SURFACE)

› [ C/U ] a thin, solid surface:

[ C ] Those airplanes have titanium skins to survive the heat.

Idiom(s)

skin and bones

skinverb [ T ]

us ​ /skɪn/ -nn-

skin verb [ T ] (REMOVE BODY COVER)

› to remove skin from an animal, or to rub skin off a part of the body:

Bridget fell off her bike and skinned her knee.

(Definition of “skin” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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