Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - skin

 I. noun  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse ~n; akin to Old English scinn ~, Middle High German schint fruit peel  Date: 13th century  1.  a.  (1) the integument of an animal (as a fur-bearing mammal or a bird) separated from the body usually with its hair or feathers  (2) a usually unmounted specimen of a vertebrate (as in a museum)  b. the hide or pelt of a game or domestic animal  c.  (1) the pelt of an animal prepared for use as a trimming or in a garment — compare hide IV  (2) a sheet of parchment or vellum made from a hide  (3) bottle 1b  2.  a. the external limiting tissue layer of an animal body; especially the 2-layered covering of a vertebrate body consisting of an outer epidermis and an inner dermis  b. an outer covering (as a rind or husk) of a fruit or seed  c. a membranous film or scum (as on boiling milk or drying paint)  3. the life or physical well-being of a person saved his own ~  4. a sheathing or casing forming the outside surface of a structure (as a ship or airplane)  • ~less adjective  II. verb  (~ned; ~ning)  Date: 14th century  transitive verb  1.  a. to strip, scrape, or rub off an outer covering (as the ~ or rind) of  b. to strip or peel off  c. to cut, chip, or damage the surface of fell and ~ned my knee  2.  a. to cover with or as if with ~  b. to heal over with ~  3.  a. to strip of money or property ; fleece  b. to defeat badly  c. censure, castigate  4. to urge on and direct the course of (as a draft animal)  intransitive verb  1. to become covered with or as if with ~  2.  a. shinny  b. to pass or get by with scant room to spare  III. adjective  Date: circa 1935 involving subjects who are nude expected to conduct ~ searches for weapons — Diane K. Shah; especially devoted to showing nudes ~ magazines