skin

Everyday

1. The outer covering of a person's or animal's body. tree →
2. The outer layer of a fruit or vegetable: "banana skin". tree →
3. A thin layer that forms on top of a liquid: "skin on hot milk". tree →
4. As a verb, to scrape the skin off: "I skinned my knee." tree →

In the lessons

In science, skin is the body's biggest organ; it protects us from germs, keeps water in and helps us feel touch, heat and pain; sweat cools us. In safety: protect skin from sunburn; wash cuts; skin colours differ and all are normal. Phrases: by the skin of your teeth (only just), thick-skinned, skin and bones, sunscreen on skin.

Examples

• Your skin protects your body. tree →
• Put sunscreen on your skin. tree →
• I peeled the skin off the orange. tree →
• She fell and skinned her knee. tree →
• Snakes shed their old skin. tree →
• Sweat on your skin helps you cool down. tree →
• People have many different skin colours. tree →
• We caught the bus by the skin of our teeth. tree →
• THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN tree →

Note

"Skin" is usually uncountable for the body, countable for fruit ("two banana skins"). A snake "sheds" its skin. Sunburn hurts your skin even on cloudy days.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah skin can be the covering of the Tabernacle (rams' skins and sealskins) or the skin of the body, where a disease might show.

Interpretation. Priests judged skin marks under the laws of tzara'at, often translated as leprosy. Tradition treats these marks as a sign of a spiritual fault, such as gossip.

Examples

• and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood; (Torah EXO.25.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• But if the scall spread abroad in the skin after his cleansing, (Torah LEV.13.35, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the flesh and the skin were burnt with fire without the camp. (Torah LEV.9.11, JPS 1917) tree →
• Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? (Prophets JER.13.23, JPS 1917) tree →
• And these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent. (Prophets JOS.9.13, JPS 1917) tree →
• Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish-spears? (Writings JOB.40.31, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

"Skin" is usually uncountable for the body, countable for fruit ("two banana skins"). A snake "sheds" its skin. Sunburn hurts your skin even on cloudy days.