Phrase guide

skeleton crew

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌskɛlɪtn ˈkɹuː/
  • General-American: /ˌskɛlətən ˈkɹu/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uː

1

noun

Meaning 1

A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Topics: nautical, transport

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From skeleton (“(military) small number of soldiers in a regiment far short of its full strength; (especially attributive) bare essentials, minimum”) + crew, metaphorically referring to a crew being bare bones rather than adequately fleshed out.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: minimimiehistö — crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something