Definition of "skeleton" []

• The internal structure composed of bone and cartilage that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism; endoskeleton. (noun)
• The hard external supporting and protecting structure in many invertebrates, such as mollusks and crustaceans, and certain vertebrates, such as turtles; exoskeleton. (noun)
• A supporting structure or framework, as of a building. (noun)
• An outline or sketch. (noun)
• Something reduced to its basic or minimal parts. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The vertebrates, be it remembered, possess practically the same organs as the lower forms of life, but differ from them most materially by the possession of the _internal_ skeleton, the lower forms having an _external_ or outside _skeleton_, which latter is merely a hardening of the skin."
• "Jr. 's run to gold at Salt Lake City, this year's story in skeleton is much darker."
• "They've shown for the first time that the skeleton is an endocrine organ that helps control our sugar metabolism and weight and, as such, is a major determinant of the development of type 2 diabetes."