skin

[skin] /skɪn/
noun
1.
the external covering or integument of an animal body, especially when soft and flexible.
2.
such an integument stripped from the body of an animal, especially a small animal; pelt:
a beaver skin.
3.
the tanned or treated pelt or hide of an animal, especially when used in apparel and accessories; leather (usually used in combination):
pigskin; calfskin.
4.
any integumentary covering, casing, outer coating, or surface layer, as an investing membrane, the rind or peel of fruit, or a film on liquid:
a skin of thin ice; the aluminum skin of an airplane.
5.
Jewelry.
  1. the outermost layer of a pearl.
  2. the outermost layer of a diamond as found: often different in color and refraction from the inner part of the stone.
6.
Nautical.
  1. the shell or ceiling of a hull.
  2. the outer, exposed part of a furled sail.
7.
Metallurgy. an outer layer of a metal piece having characteristics differing from those of the interior.
8.
a container made of animal skin, used for holding liquids, especially wine.
9.
Slang. condom.
10.
skins, Slang. drums.
11.
Slang. a swindler; cheat.
12.
Slang. a skinflint.
13.
Slang. a horse.
14.
Slang. a dollar bill.
15.
Rocketry. the outer surface of a missile or rocket.
verb (used with object), skinned, skinning.
16.
to strip or deprive of skin; flay; peel; husk.
17.
to remove or strip off (any covering, outer coating, surface layer, etc.).
18.
to scrape or rub a small piece of skin from (one's hand, leg, etc.), as in falling or sliding against something:
She skinned her knee.
19.
to urge on, drive, or whip (a draft animal, as a mule or ox).
20.
to climb or jump:
He skinned the rope to the top of the wall.
21.
to cover with or as if with skin.
22.
Slang. to strip of money or belongings; fleece, as in gambling.
23.
Cards. to slide cards one at a time off the top of (the pack) in dealing.
24.
Slang. to defeat completely:
skinned at the polls.
25.
Slang. to castigate; reprimand:
skinned for his disobedience.
verb (used without object), skinned, skinning.
26.
Slang. to slip off or depart hurriedly (often followed by out).
adjective
27.
  1. Slang. showing or featuring nude persons, often in a sexually explicit way:
    a skin magazine.
  2. presenting films, stage shows, exhibitions, etc., that feature nude persons, especially in a sexually explicit way:
    a Times Square skin house.
Idioms
28.
by the skin of one's teeth, Informal. by an extremely narrow margin; just barely; scarcely:
We made the last train by the skin of our teeth.
29.
get under one's skin, Slang.
  1. to irritate; bother:
    His laugh really gets under my skin.
  2. to affect deeply; impress; penetrate:
    That sort of music always gets under my skin.
30.
have a thick skin, to be insensitive to criticism or rebuffs:
The complaint desk is a job for someone who has a thick skin.
31.
have a thin skin, to be extremely sensitive to criticism or rebuffs; be easily offended:
Be careful what you say to me, I have a thin skin.
32.
in / with a whole skin, without harm; unscathed; safely:
She escaped from the burning building with a whole skin.
33.
no skin off one's back / nose / teeth, Slang. of no interest or concern or involving no risk to one.
34.
save one's skin, Informal. to avoid harm, especially to escape death:
They betrayed their country to save their skins.
35.
skin alive, Informal.
  1. to reprimand; scold.
  2. to subdue completely, especially in a cruel or ruthless manner:
    The home team was skinned alive this afternoon.
36.
under the skin, in essence; fundamentally; despite appearances or differences:
sisters under the skin.
Origin
1150-1200; Middle English (noun) < Old Norse skinn; cognate with dialectal German Schinde skin of fruit
Related forms
skinlike, adjective
underskin, noun
unskinned, adjective
Synonyms
2. fur. Skin, hide, pelt are names for the outer covering of animals, including humans. Skin is the general word: an abrasion of the skin; the skin of a muskrat. Hide applies to the skin of large animals, as cattle, horses, or elephants: a buffalo hide. Pelt applies to the untanned skin of smaller animals: a mink pelt. 4. hull, shell, husk, crust.

tooth

[tooth] /tuθ/
noun, plural teeth.
1.
(in most vertebrates) one of the hard bodies or processes usually attached in a row to each jaw, serving for the prehension and mastication of food, as weapons of attack or defense, etc., and in mammals typically composed chiefly of dentin surrounding a sensitive pulp and covered on the crown with enamel.
2.
(in invertebrates) any of various similar or analogous processes occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal, or on a shell.
3.
any projection resembling or suggesting a tooth.
4.
one of the projections of a comb, rake, saw, etc.
5.
Machinery.
  1. any of the uniform projections on a gear or rack by which it drives, or is driven by, a gear, rack, or worm.
  2. any of the uniform projections on a sprocket by which it drives or is driven by a chain.
6.
Botany.
  1. any small, toothlike marginal lobe.
  2. one of the toothlike divisions of the peristome of mosses.
7.
a sharp, distressing, or destructive attribute or agency.
8.
taste, relish, or liking.
9.
a surface, as on a grinding wheel or sharpening stone, slightly roughened so as to increase friction with another part.
10.
a rough surface created on a paper made for charcoal drawing, watercolor, or the like, or on canvas for oil painting.
verb (used with object), toothed
[tootht, tooth d] /tuθt, tuðd/ (Show IPA), toothing
[too-thing, -th ing] /ˈtu θɪŋ, -ðɪŋ/ (Show IPA)
11.
to furnish with teeth.
12.
to cut teeth upon.
verb (used without object), toothed
[tootht, tooth d] /tuθt, tuðd/ (Show IPA), toothing
[too-thing, -th ing] /ˈtu θɪŋ, -ðɪŋ/ (Show IPA)
13.
to interlock, as cogwheels.
Idioms
14.
by the skin of one's teeth, barely:
He got away by the skin of his teeth.
15.
cast / throw in someone's teeth, to reproach someone for (an action):
History will ever throw this blunder in his teeth.
16.
cut one's teeth on, to do at the beginning of one's education, career, etc., or in one's youth:
The hunter boasted of having cut his teeth on tigers.
17.
in the teeth of,
  1. so as to face or confront; straight into or against:
    in the teeth of the wind.
  2. in defiance of; in opposition to:
    She maintained her stand in the teeth of public opinion.
18.
long in the tooth, old; elderly.
19.
put teeth in / into, to establish or increase the effectiveness of:
to put teeth into the law.
20.
set one's teeth, to become resolute; prepare for difficulty:
He set his teeth and separated the combatants.
21.
set / put one's teeth on edge,
  1. to induce an unpleasant sensation.
  2. to repel; irritate:
    The noise of the machines sets my teeth on edge.
22.
show one's teeth, to become hostile or threatening; exhibit anger:
Usually friendly, she suddenly began to show her teeth.
23.
to the teeth, entirely; fully:
armed to the teeth; dressed to the teeth in furs.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English tōth; cognate with Dutch tand, German Zahn, Old Norse tǫnn; akin to Gothic tunthus, Latin dēns, Greek odoús (Ionic odṓn), Sanskrit dánta
Related forms
toothlike, adjective
Synonyms
8. fondness, partiality, predilection.
British Dictionary definitions for by the skin of one's teeth

skin

/skɪn/
noun
1.
  1. the tissue forming the outer covering of the vertebrate body: it consists of two layers (the dermis and epidermis), the outermost of which may be covered with hair, scales, feathers, etc. It is mainly protective and sensory in function
  2. (as modifier): a skin disease See also dermis, epidermis related adjectives cutaneous dermatoid
2.
a person's complexion: a fair skin
3.
any similar covering in a plant or lower animal
4.
any coating or film, such as one that forms on the surface of a liquid
5.
unsplit leather made from the outer covering of various mammals, reptiles, etc Compare hide2 (sense 1)
6.
the outer covering of a fur-bearing animal, dressed and finished with the hair on
7.
a container made from animal skin
8.
the outer covering surface of a vessel, rocket, etc
9.
a person's skin regarded as his life: to save one's skin
10.
(often pl) (informal) (in jazz or pop use) a drum
11.
(informal) short for skinhead
12.
(slang) a cigarette paper used for rolling a cannabis cigarette
13.
(Irish, slang) a person; sort: he's a good old skin
14.
by the skin of one's teeth, by a narrow margin; only just
15.
(informal) get under one's skin, to irritate one
16.
jump out of one's skin, to be very startled
17.
(informal) no skin off one's nose, not a matter that affects one adversely
18.
skin and bone, extremely thin
19.
thick skin, an insensitive nature
20.
thin skin, a sensitive nature
verb skins, skinning, skinned
21.
(transitive) to remove the outer covering from (fruit, etc)
22.
(transitive) to scrape a small piece of skin from (a part of oneself) in falling, etc: he skinned his knee
23.
(often foll by over) to cover (something) with skin or a skinlike substance or (of something) to become covered in this way
24.
(transitive) (slang) to strip of money; swindle
adjective
25.
relating to or for the skin: skin cream
26.
(slang, mainly US) involving or depicting nudity: skin magazines
See also skin up
Derived Forms
skinless, adjective
skinlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn

tooth

/tuːθ/
noun (pl) teeth (tiːθ)
1.
any of various bonelike structures set in the jaws of most vertebrates and modified, according to the species, for biting, tearing, or chewing related adjective dental
2.
any of various similar structures in invertebrates, occurring in the mouth or alimentary canal
3.
anything resembling a tooth in shape, prominence, or function: the tooth of a comb
4.
any of the various small indentations occurring on the margin of a leaf, petal, etc
5.
any one of a number of uniform projections on a gear, sprocket, rack, etc, by which drive is transmitted
6.
taste or appetite (esp in the phrase sweet tooth)
7.
long in the tooth, old or ageing: used originally of horses, because their gums recede with age
8.
tooth and nail, with ferocity and force: we fought tooth and nail
verb (tuːð; tuːθ)
9.
(transitive) to provide with a tooth or teeth
10.
(intransitive) (of two gearwheels) to engage
Derived Forms
toothless, adjective
toothlike, adjective
Word Origin
Old English tōth; related to Old Saxon tand, Old High German zand, Old Norse tonn, Gothic tunthus, Latin dens
Word Origin and History for by the skin of one's teeth

tooth

n.

Old English toð (plural teð), from Proto-Germanic *tanth, *tunth (cf. Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Dutch tand, Old Norse tönn, Old Frisian toth, Old High German zand, German Zahn, Gothic tunþus), from PIE *dont-/*dent- "tooth" (cf. Sanskrit danta, Greek odontos, Latin dens, Lithuanian dantis, Old Irish det, Welsh dent). Plural form teeth is an instance of i-mutation. Application to tooth-like parts of other objects (saws, combs, etc.) first recorded 1520s.

skin

n.

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.)).

Ful of fleissche Y was to fele, Now ... Me is lefte But skyn & boon. [hymn, c.1430]
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:
All the carnall beauty of my wife, Is but skin-deep. [Sir Thomas Overbury, "A Wife," 1613; the poem was a main motive for his murder]
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.

v.

late 14c., "to remove the skin from" (originally of circumcision), from skin (n.). As "to have (a particular kind of) skin" from c.1400. In 19c. U.S. colloquial use, "to strip, fleece, plunder;" hence skin-game, one in which one player has no chance against the others (as with a stacked deck), the type of con game played in a skin-house. Skin the cat in gymnastics is from 1845. Related: Skinned; skinning.

by the skin of one's teeth in Medicine

skin (skĭn)
n.
The membranous tissue forming an external protective covering or integument of an animal and consisting of the epidermis and dermis. v. skinned, skin·ning, skins
To bruise, cut, or injure the skin of.

skin'less adj.

tooth (tōōth)
n. pl. teeth (tēth)
One of a set of hard, bonelike structures rooted in sockets in the jaws of vertebrates, typically composed of a core of soft pulp surrounded by a layer of hard dentin that is coated with cement or enamel at the crown and used chiefly for biting or chewing food or as a means of attack or defense.

by the skin of one's teeth in Science
skin
  (skĭn)   
The outer covering of a vertebrate animal, consisting of two layers of cells, a thick inner layer (the dermis) and a thin outer layer (the epidermis). Structures such as hair, scales, or feathers are contained in the skin, as are fat cells, sweat glands, and sensory receptors. Skin provides a protective barrier against disease-causing microorganisms and against the sun's ultraviolet rays. In warm-blooded animals, it aids in temperature regulation, as by insulating against the cold.
tooth
  (tth)   

Plural teeth (tēth)

  1. Any of the hard bony structures in the mouth used to grasp and chew food and as weapons of attack and defense. In mammals and many other vertebrates, the teeth are set in sockets in the jaw. In fish and amphibians, they grow in and around the palate. See also dentition.

  2. A similar structure in certain invertebrate animals.


by the skin of one's teeth in Culture

skin definition


The external tissue that covers the body. As the body's largest organ (it makes up about one twenty-fifth of an adult's weight), the skin serves as a waterproof covering that helps keep out pathogens and protects against temperature extremes and sunlight. The skin also contains special nerve endings that respond to touch, pressure, heat, and cold. The skin has an outer layer, or epidermis, and a layer immediately below, called the dermis.

tooth definition


A hard structure, embedded in the jaws of the mouth, that functions in chewing. The tooth consists of a crown, covered with hard white enamel; a root, which anchors the tooth to the jawbone; and a “neck” between the crown and the root, covered by the gum. Most of the tooth is made up of dentin, which is located directly below the enamel. The soft interior of the tooth, the pulp, contains nerves and blood vessels. Humans have molars for grinding food, incisors for cutting, and canines and bicuspids for tearing.

Slang definitions & phrases for by the skin of one's teeth

skim

noun

Income not reported for tax purposes, esp from the gross earnings of a gambling casino or other such enterprise; black money: allegedly ''cleansed'' in the neighborhood of $2 million in ''skim,'' untaxed gambling profits/ Caltronics is in on the skim (1960+ Gambling)

verb

: ''appropriate, conceal, and skim'' part of the winnings (1961+ Gambling)


too rich for someone's blood

adjective phrase

Exceeding someone's capabilities, purse, desires, etc; too much: I don't go out with them anymore; it's too rich for my blood (1884+)


by the skin of one's teeth in the Bible

one of the particulars regarding which retaliatory punishment was to be inflicted (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21). "Gnashing of teeth" =rage, despair (Matt. 8:12; Acts 7:54); "cleanness of teeth" =famine (Amos 4:6); "children's teeth set on edge" =children suffering for the sins of their fathers (Ezek. 18:2).

Idioms and Phrases with by the skin of one's teeth

by the skin of one's teeth

Just barely, very narrowly, as in Doug passed the exam by the skin of his teeth. A related term appears in the Bible (Job 19:20), where Job says, “I am escaped with the skin of my teeth,” presumably meaning he got away with nothing at all. Today the phrase using by is used most often to describe a narrow escape. [ c. 1600 ]
Also see: squeak through

skin

also see:

tooth

In addition to the idiom beginning with
tooth
also see:
also see under:
teeth