Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - skin

(skins, skinning, skinned) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Your skin is the natural covering of your body. His skin is clear and smooth... There are three major types of skin cancer... The only difference between us is the colour of our skins. N-VAR 2. An animal skin is skin which has been removed from a dead animal. Skins are used to make things such as coats and rugs. That was real crocodile skin. N-VAR: usu supp N 3. The skin of a fruit or vegetable is its outer layer or covering. The outer skin of the orange is called the ‘zest’. ...banana skins. N-VAR 4. If a skin forms on the surface of a liquid, a thin, fairly solid layer forms on it. Stir the custard occasionally to prevent a skin forming. N-SING 5. If you skin a dead animal, you remove its skin. ...with the expertise of a chef skinning a rabbit. VERB: V n 6. see also -skinned, banana skin 7. If you do something by the skin of your teeth, you just manage to do it. He won, but only by the skin of his teeth. PHRASE: PHR with cl 8. If you say that someone has a thick skin, you mean that they are able to listen to criticism about themselves without becoming offended. You need a thick skin to be a headmaster. PHRASE: N inflects, usu v PHR 9. to make your skin crawl: see crawl