"skeleton crew" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "By metaphor, with the crew as a corporate body 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"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "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, →ISSN",
          "text": "The internet technology team — which is partly responsible for keeping the site functioning — became “a skeleton crew,” two people said.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency or shutdown, and at the same time, to keep vital functions operating."
      ],
      "id": "en-skeleton_crew-en-noun-cOCc33Q~",
      "links": [
        [
          "minimum",
          "minimum"
        ],
        [
          "personnel",
          "personnel"
        ],
        [
          "operate",
          "operate"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency or shutdown, and at the same time, to keep vital functions operating."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "short-staffed"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "skeleton crew"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "By metaphor, with the crew as a corporate body 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"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "short-staffed"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "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, →ISSN",
          "text": "The internet technology team — which is partly responsible for keeping the site functioning — became “a skeleton crew,” two people said.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency or shutdown, and at the same time, to keep vital functions operating."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "minimum",
          "minimum"
        ],
        [
          "personnel",
          "personnel"
        ],
        [
          "operate",
          "operate"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) The minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency or shutdown, and at the same time, to keep vital functions operating."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "skeleton crew"
}