skull

American  

[skuhl] / skʌl /

noun

• skulls
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• skull-less
  adjective
• skull-like
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• skulls
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of skull

1175–1225; Middle English scolle < Old Norse skalli

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Explanation

The bones of a person's or animal's head make up the skull. All vertebrates have a skull. Pirate flags often feature a human skull and crossbones (because a parrot skull wouldn’t be nearly so scary). The wide-eyed head of a skeleton is its skull. Skulls are hard and bony, but they're a little bit flexible as well—characteristics that help them protect the brain they enclose. Your skull consists of two parts: the bones of your face and the neurocranium, or "braincase." The precise origin of skull is uncertain, but it probably traces back to the Old English scealu, "husk or shell."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

skull skulls

Its ghostly skull may be one of Antarctica's most unusual sights, but the gradual transformation of the ice that shapes it tells an even more important story.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026

Families can take part in Indigenous Mexican ribbon braiding with Ponte Your Monos, sugar skull decorating with Kalaveritas Y Mas, face painting with Doodling Faces, and paper weaving with Ana Reyes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

She had routine surgery for craniosynostosis, external, a birth defect affecting the skull, but an abnormal chest X-ray was not flagged.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

For over $400 you can get an even taller one at Lowe’s, which sells a 15-foot talking, motion-activated headless figure holding a skull aloft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

We stopped in front of the heavy wooden door, whose stained-glass fanlight formed a grinning skull and crossbones.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

A key piece of that evidence is a study published in 2022 of very early Neanderthal skulls from northern Spain at an archaeological site called "the Pit of Bones".

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Nearby, teams of archaeologists worked in tents, assembling skeletons out of the discovered bones and piecing together skulls that were destroyed by blunt-force trauma.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

She probably won’t smash quite as many skulls as Jack Reacher, but it looks like a decent action show that dads everywhere will enjoy.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Digital models of both complete skulls gave the team a rare opportunity to compare them directly, helping researchers determine which anatomical features were likely typical of the species.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026

In all of these respects, Jomon skulls differ from those of modern Japanese and are most similar to those of modem Ainu, while Yayoi skulls most resemble those of modern Japanese.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• cranium
• scalp

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