See skeleton crew on Wiktionary
{ "etymology_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "ine-pro", "3": "*(s)kelh₁-", "4": "*ḱer-", "id2": "grow" }, "expansion": "", "name": "root" }, { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "skeleton", "3": "crew", "notext": "1", "t1": "(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum", "type": "exocentric" }, "expansion": "skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew", "name": "compound" }, { "args": { "1": "metaphor" }, "expansion": "metaphor", "name": "glossary" } ], "etymology_text": "From skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew, metaphorically referring to a crew being bare bones rather than adequately fleshed out.", "forms": [ { "form": "skeleton crews", "tags": [ "plural" ] } ], "head_templates": [ { "args": {}, "expansion": "skeleton crew (plural skeleton crews)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "hyphenation": [ "skel‧e‧ton" ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "senses": [ { "categories": [ { "kind": "other", "name": "English entries with incorrect language header", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "English exocentric compounds", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Entries with translation boxes", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with 1 entry", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with entries", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Terms with Finnish translations", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "langcode": "en", "name": "Labour", "orig": "en:Labour", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "langcode": "en", "name": "Military", "orig": "en:Military", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "langcode": "en", "name": "Nautical", "orig": "en:Nautical", "parents": [], "source": "w" } ], "examples": [ { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 47, 61 ] ], "ref": "1834 March 4, Duke of Buckingham [Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos], “Impressment of Seamen”, in Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates: […] Third Series; […] (House of Commons), volume XXI, London: […] T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […], for Baldwin and Cradock; […], →OCLC, column 1073:", "text": "[T]he ships of the English navy were left with skeleton crews of the most wretched kind and description.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 52, 65 ] ], "ref": "1838, [Frederick] Chamier, chapter XIV, in Jack Adams, the Mutineer. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 270:", "text": "But when night came on, the wind died away, and the skeleton crew, revived by hope, actually took to the oars, and used them to some effect.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 259, 273 ] ], "ref": "1895 March 2, “Naval Appropriation Bill”, in Congressional Record: […] (United States Senate, 53rd Congress, 3rd session), volume XXVII, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1895, →OCLC, page 3120:", "text": "Mr. [Benjamin Franklin] Tracy, the former Secretary [of the Navy], in a conversation with the present Secretary, stated that his policy with the battle ships, had he continued in office, would have been to lay them up the greater part of the year with merely skeleton crews on board, and keep them in good and efficient trim for an emergency when necessary.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 184, 197 ] ], "ref": "1945 August 4, Franklin D’Olier, chairman, “Appendix IV: Air Raid Reports (Translations)”, in [anonymous], transl., Ludwigshafen-Oppau Works of IG Farbenindustrie AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany (United States Strategic Bombing Survey; 117), 2nd edition, [Washington, D.C.]: Oil Division, [United States Strategic Bombing Survey], published January 1947, →OCLC, page 99:", "text": "In Building Op 750, 2 phosphorus incendiaries penetrated the roof without damage. Eighteen phosphorus incendiaries fell on Op 450 and penetrated the roof, but were extinguished by the skeleton crew without damage.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 100, 113 ] ], "ref": "2022 November 4, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, “Confusion and frustration reign as Elon Musk cuts half of Twitter’s staff”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-13:", "text": "The internet technology team—which is partly responsible for keeping the site functioning—became \"a skeleton crew,\" two people said.", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship." ], "id": "en-skeleton_crew-en-noun-XML-c7Ub", "links": [ [ "military", "military" ], [ "nautical", "nautical" ], [ "crew", "crew#Noun" ], [ "consist", "consist" ], [ "minimum", "minimum#Adjective" ], [ "number", "number#Noun" ], [ "personnel", "personnel" ], [ "needed", "need#Verb" ], [ "maintain", "maintain" ], [ "operate", "operate" ], [ "basic", "basic#Adjective" ], [ "functions", "function#Noun" ], [ "business", "business#Noun" ], [ "factory", "factory#Noun" ], [ "ship", "ship#Noun" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(idiomatic, originally military, nautical) A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship." ], "related": [ { "word": "skeleton service" }, { "word": "skeleton staff" }, { "word": "short-staffed" }, { "word": "skeletonized" }, { "word": "bare-bones" } ], "tags": [ "idiomatic" ], "topics": [ "nautical", "transport" ], "translations": [ { "code": "fi", "lang": "Finnish", "sense": "crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something", "word": "minimimiehistö" } ] } ], "sounds": [ { "ipa": "/ˌskɛlɪtn ˈkɹuː/", "tags": [ "Received-Pronunciation" ] }, { "ipa": "/ˌskɛlətən ˈkɹu/", "tags": [ "General-American" ] }, { "audio": "En-au-skeleton crew.ogg", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/75/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg" }, { "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-skeleton crew.wav", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav.ogg" }, { "rhymes": "-uː" } ], "word": "skeleton crew" }
{ "etymology_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "ine-pro", "3": "*(s)kelh₁-", "4": "*ḱer-", "id2": "grow" }, "expansion": "", "name": "root" }, { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "skeleton", "3": "crew", "notext": "1", "t1": "(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum", "type": "exocentric" }, "expansion": "skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew", "name": "compound" }, { "args": { "1": "metaphor" }, "expansion": "metaphor", "name": "glossary" } ], "etymology_text": "From skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew, metaphorically referring to a crew being bare bones rather than adequately fleshed out.", "forms": [ { "form": "skeleton crews", "tags": [ "plural" ] } ], "head_templates": [ { "args": {}, "expansion": "skeleton crew (plural skeleton crews)", "name": "en-noun" } ], "hyphenation": [ "skel‧e‧ton" ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "noun", "related": [ { "word": "skeleton service" }, { "word": "skeleton staff" }, { "word": "short-staffed" }, { "word": "skeletonized" }, { "word": "bare-bones" } ], "senses": [ { "categories": [ "English compound terms", "English countable nouns", "English entries with incorrect language header", "English exocentric compounds", "English idioms", "English lemmas", "English multiword terms", "English noun-noun compound nouns", "English nouns", "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European", "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kelh₁-", "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱer- (grow)", "English terms with quotations", "Entries with translation boxes", "Pages with 1 entry", "Pages with entries", "Rhymes:English/uː", "Rhymes:English/uː/4 syllables", "Terms with Finnish translations", "en:Labour", "en:Military", "en:Nautical" ], "examples": [ { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 47, 61 ] ], "ref": "1834 March 4, Duke of Buckingham [Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos], “Impressment of Seamen”, in Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates: […] Third Series; […] (House of Commons), volume XXI, London: […] T[homas] C[urson] Hansard, […], for Baldwin and Cradock; […], →OCLC, column 1073:", "text": "[T]he ships of the English navy were left with skeleton crews of the most wretched kind and description.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 52, 65 ] ], "ref": "1838, [Frederick] Chamier, chapter XIV, in Jack Adams, the Mutineer. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 270:", "text": "But when night came on, the wind died away, and the skeleton crew, revived by hope, actually took to the oars, and used them to some effect.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 259, 273 ] ], "ref": "1895 March 2, “Naval Appropriation Bill”, in Congressional Record: […] (United States Senate, 53rd Congress, 3rd session), volume XXVII, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1895, →OCLC, page 3120:", "text": "Mr. [Benjamin Franklin] Tracy, the former Secretary [of the Navy], in a conversation with the present Secretary, stated that his policy with the battle ships, had he continued in office, would have been to lay them up the greater part of the year with merely skeleton crews on board, and keep them in good and efficient trim for an emergency when necessary.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 184, 197 ] ], "ref": "1945 August 4, Franklin D’Olier, chairman, “Appendix IV: Air Raid Reports (Translations)”, in [anonymous], transl., Ludwigshafen-Oppau Works of IG Farbenindustrie AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany (United States Strategic Bombing Survey; 117), 2nd edition, [Washington, D.C.]: Oil Division, [United States Strategic Bombing Survey], published January 1947, →OCLC, page 99:", "text": "In Building Op 750, 2 phosphorus incendiaries penetrated the roof without damage. Eighteen phosphorus incendiaries fell on Op 450 and penetrated the roof, but were extinguished by the skeleton crew without damage.", "type": "quote" }, { "bold_text_offsets": [ [ 100, 113 ] ], "ref": "2022 November 4, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac, “Confusion and frustration reign as Elon Musk cuts half of Twitter’s staff”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-03-13:", "text": "The internet technology team—which is partly responsible for keeping the site functioning—became \"a skeleton crew,\" two people said.", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship." ], "links": [ [ "military", "military" ], [ "nautical", "nautical" ], [ "crew", "crew#Noun" ], [ "consist", "consist" ], [ "minimum", "minimum#Adjective" ], [ "number", "number#Noun" ], [ "personnel", "personnel" ], [ "needed", "need#Verb" ], [ "maintain", "maintain" ], [ "operate", "operate" ], [ "basic", "basic#Adjective" ], [ "functions", "function#Noun" ], [ "business", "business#Noun" ], [ "factory", "factory#Noun" ], [ "ship", "ship#Noun" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(idiomatic, originally military, nautical) A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship." ], "tags": [ "idiomatic" ], "topics": [ "nautical", "transport" ] } ], "sounds": [ { "ipa": "/ˌskɛlɪtn ˈkɹuː/", "tags": [ "Received-Pronunciation" ] }, { "ipa": "/ˌskɛlətən ˈkɹu/", "tags": [ "General-American" ] }, { "audio": "En-au-skeleton crew.ogg", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/75/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/En-au-skeleton_crew.ogg" }, { "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-skeleton crew.wav", "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav.mp3", "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-skeleton_crew.wav.ogg" }, { "rhymes": "-uː" } ], "translations": [ { "code": "fi", "lang": "Finnish", "sense": "crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something", "word": "minimimiehistö" } ], "word": "skeleton crew" }
Download raw JSONL data for skeleton crew meaning in All languages combined (6.7kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-19 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-01 using wiktextract (c3cc510 and 1d3fdbf). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.