skull

American  

[skuhl] / skʌl /

noun

1. the bony framework of the head, enclosing the brain and supporting the face; the skeleton of the head.

2. the head as the center of knowledge and understanding; mind.

   to get literature's great ideas through our skulls.

3. Armor. the part of a helmet that covers the top of the head.

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idioms

1. out of one's skull, crazy; demented.

skull British  

/ skʌl /

noun

1. the bony skeleton of the head of vertebrates See cranium

2. derogatory the head regarded as the mind or intelligence

   to have a dense skull

3. a picture of a skull used to represent death or danger

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skull Scientific  

/ skŭl /

1. The part of the skeleton that forms the framework of the head, consisting of the bones of the cranium, which protect the brain, and the bones of the face.

2. See more at skeleton

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Other Word Forms

• skull-less adjective
• skull-like adjective

Etymology

Origin of skull

1175–1225; Middle English scolle < Old Norse skalli

Example Sentences

Researchers reconstructed the skull of an early lungfish species known as Paleolophus, which lived in seas that once covered what is now southern China about 410 million years ago.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2026

Joe Rush from London first went to Worthy Farm in 1985 with a truck he had converted to look like a giant skull.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

The experimental therapy is administered through a catheter inserted into tiny holes in the skull.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 9, 2026

The therapy is risky, partly because it must be infused into the brain through a hole in the test subject’s skull.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

And then the shock of the impact wore off, and he quickly declared his head the winner as sharp pains spread like lightning bolts through his skull.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

Related Words

• cranium
• scalp