skeletonizing
Reducing to bones
Skeletonizing is reducing something to its skeleton—its essential framework with nonessential parts removed.
Leaves become skeletonized when insects eat the soft tissue between veins: Caterpillars had skeletonized the rose bushes.
The term applies to any process of stripping down to a structural core, whether biological decay, deliberate modification of firearms, or simplifying complex systems to their bare bones.
Loss of foliage
- caterpillarsLarval moths or butterflies
- pestsBothersome insects or animals
- veinsBlood-return tubes
- laceworkOrnamental open-weave fabric
pruning · denuding · thinning · peeling · exposing · uncovering · framework · outline
Gradual organic breakdown
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- carrionPutrefying animal remains
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
necrosis · bacteria · fungi · mold · scavengers · beetles · bone · remains
Making less complex
- minimizingReducing to smallest extent
- barebonesReduced to essentials
- essentialFundamentally necessary
- frameworkUnderlying support system
outline · structure · streamlining · paring · trimming · cutting · distilling · condensing
Kept from deterioration
- botanicalRelated to plants
- specimenIndividual for examination
- delicateEasily broken or harmed
- intricateElaborately detailed, many parts
veining · translucent · filigree · ornamental · decorative · craft · pressing · display
defoliation
Loss of foliage
- caterpillarsLarval moths or butterflies
- pestsBothersome insects or animals
- veinsBlood-return tubes
lacework · pruning · denuding · thinning · peeling · exposing · uncovering · framework · outline · bare
decay
Gradual organic breakdown
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- carrionPutrefying animal remains
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
decomposition · necrosis · bacteria · fungi · mold · scavengers · beetles · bone · remains · carcass
simplifying
Making less complex
- minimizingReducing to smallest extent
- barebonesReduced to essentials
- essentialFundamentally necessary
framework · outline · structure · streamlining · paring · trimming · cutting · distilling · condensing · abstracting
preserved
Kept from deterioration
intricate · veining · translucent · filigree · ornamental · decorative · craft · pressing · display · silhouette
skeletonizingembalming
Preserving dead bodies chemically
mummifying · preserving · taxidermy · fleshing out · conserving
skeletonizingfleshing out
Adding substance and detail
building up · padding · elaborating · augmenting · layering
skeletonizingfleshing out
Adding substance and detail
elaborating · filling in · detailing · expanding · padding
skeleton, skeletal, exoskeleton, endoskeleton, skeletally, exoskeletal, skeletonize, skeletonized, skeletonised