10 Idioms related to human skin

Posted by Olympiad Tester on Dec 31, 2023

1. All skin and bone

Meaning: Extremely thin or emaciated, with little flesh or muscle.
Sentence Usage 1: After months of illness, she emerged from the hospital looking all skin and bone.
Sentence Usage 2: The stray cat was all skin and bone before the kind family took it in and nursed it back to health.

2. By the skin of your teeth

Meaning: To narrowly succeed or survive, just managing to accomplish something.
Sentence Usage 1: The car avoided the collision by the skin of its teeth.
Sentence Usage 2: He finished the exam by the skin of his teeth, having guessed the answers to the last few questions.

3. Jump out of one's skin

Meaning: To be extremely startled or surprised.
Sentence Usage 1: The sudden loud noise made her jump out of her skin.
Sentence Usage 2: The unexpected appearance of the magician's rabbit made the children jump out of their skin with delight.

4. More than one way to skin a cat

Meaning: There are multiple methods or approaches to achieve a goal.
Sentence Usage 1: Don't worry if the first plan fails; there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Sentence Usage 2: In problem-solving, creativity is essential because there's often more than one way to skin a cat.

5. (No) skin off one's nose

Meaning: To indicate that someone doesn't care or is not bothered by a situation.
Sentence Usage 1: It's no skin off my nose if you choose a different restaurant for lunch.
Sentence Usage 2: Whether you agree or not is no skin off my nose; I just wanted to share my opinion.

6. Skin someone alive

Meaning: To threaten severe punishment or harm to someone out of anger or frustration.
Sentence Usage 1: If my brother breaks my laptop again, I'll skin him alive!
Sentence Usage 2: The coach threatened to skin the players alive if they didn't improve their performance in the next match.

7. (Put) skin in the game

Meaning: To invest money or take a financial risk, demonstrating commitment or involvement in a venture.
Sentence Usage 1: Successful entrepreneurs often put their skin in the game by investing significant amounts in their own startups.
Sentence Usage 2: The CEO decided to put skin in the game by personally contributing to the company's fundraising campaign.

8. Skinflint

Meaning: A miserly or stingy person who is reluctant to spend money.
Sentence Usage 1: My uncle is a real skinflint; he never treats anyone to dinner.
Sentence Usage 2: The boss earned a reputation as a skinflint for rarely approving budget increases.

9. Skin deep

Meaning: Superficial or only on the surface, not involving deep emotions or understanding.
Sentence Usage 1: Although they seemed close, their friendship was only skin deep.
Sentence Usage 2: True love goes beyond the skin deep attraction of physical appearance.

10. Get under someone's skin

Meaning: To annoy or irritate someone profoundly; to become a source of irritation.
Sentence Usage 1: His constant criticism started to get under her skin.
Sentence Usage 2: Don't let small issues get under your skin; focus on the bigger picture.