skeletonize

English

Alternative forms

• skeletonise

Etymology

From skeleton +‎ -ize.

Verb

skeletonize (third-person singular simple present skeletonizes, present participle skeletonizing, simple past and past participle skeletonized)

1. (transitive) To reduce to a skeleton.
   • 2012, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, page 8:

     A school of piranhas crawled out from the water, made its way to the capital of Lima, and skeletonized the prime minister in just under 30 seconds.

2. (transitive, figuratively) To reduce to little or nothing.

Related terms

• skeletonization
• skeletonizer