skinning

verbremove outer covering

Synonyms for skinning

verb remove outer covering

Antonyms for skinning

cover

Word Origin & History

c.1200, "animal hide" (usually dressed and tanned), from Old Norse skinn "animal hide, fur," from Proto-Germanic *skintha- (cf. Old English scinn (rare), Old High German scinten, German schinden "to flay, skin;" German dialectal schind "skin of a fruit," Flemish schinde "bark"), from PIE *sken- "to cut off" (cf. Breton scant "scale of a fish," Irish scainim "I tear, I burst"), from root *sek- "to cut" (see section (n.)).

The usual Anglo-Saxon word is hide (n.1). Meaning "epidermis of a living animal or person" is attested from early 14c.; extended to fruits, vegetables, etc. late 14c. Jazz slang sense of "drum" is from 1927. Meaning "a skinhead" is from 1970. As an adjective, it formerly had a slang sense of "cheating" (1868); sense of "pornographic" is attested from 1968. Skin deep is first attested in this:

The skin of one's teeth as the narrowest of margins is attested from 1550s in the Geneva Bible literal translation of the Hebrew text in Job xix:20. To get under (someone's) skin "annoy" is from 1896. Skin-graft is from 1871. Skin merchant "recruiting officer" is from 1792.

Example Sentences for skinning

All the way up the bank they are killing and skinning their goats.

I'd fain have shot one but for the bother of skinning and curing.

They probably thought this was merely a preliminary to skinning them.

By this time the Indians were skinning and cutting up the moose.

He may have felt it necessary, in the interests of his business, to go on skinning the sheep.

Achang had completed the skinning of the orang, and the skin was now drying in the sun.

Not many minutes were required for the skinning of the bear.

Hence the phrase to “get accustomed to a thing; as eels do to skinning.”

In the act of skinning a bird you must either have it upon a table or upon your knee.

Kotick did not care to hear any more about skinning just then; he had seen enough of it.