skeleton

Noun

• the internal supporting structure that gives an artifact its shape
  • the building has a steel skeleton
    

• the hard structure (bones and cartilages) that provides a frame for the body of an animal

• a scandal that is kept secret
  • there must be a skeleton somewhere in that family's closet
    

• something reduced to its minimal form
  • the battalion was a mere skeleton of its former self
    
  • the bare skeleton of a novel
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  skeletal frame , frame , underframe , skeletal system , systema skeletale , skeleton in the closet , skeleton in the cupboard