shed skin
Discarded outer layer
Shed skin is the outer layer that a snake, lizard, or other reptile has cast off during molting.
The discarded covering retains the animal's shape and scale pattern: We found a shed skin near the rock wall.
Figuratively, to shed one's skin is to transform or leave behind a former identity.
- moltShed outer covering
- sloughBoggy ground or cast-off skin
- scalesPlates or weighing devices
- snakeLimbless scaled reptile
- reptileCold-blooded scaled vertebrate
renewal · fresh start · new beginnings · exoskeleton · peel · peel off · cicada · chrysalis · rebirth · husk · flaky · growth · transformation · epidermis · cells · dead · outer layer · scrub
- reptile skinscales, molting, scutes, keratin
- castoffscrap, junk, trash, waste, refuse
- insect signscocoon, chrysalis, silk, web, spider web
- snake anatomyfangs, scales, forked tongue, venom glands, hood
- organic remainsbone, bones, carcass, carcasses, carrion
- exoskeletonexoskeleton, chitin, cuticle, integument, procuticle