# skeleton crew

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/skeleton-crew
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A crew consisting of the minimum number of personnel needed to maintain and operate the basic functions of something, such as a business, a factory, or a ship.

## Examples

- The hotel runs with a skeleton crew during the quiet winter months.
- A skeleton crew manages the store while the rest of us attend the meeting.
- Because of the holiday, the office is operating with a skeleton crew until next week.
- The hospital kept a skeleton crew in the billing department over the weekend so they could focus all their resources on the emergency room.
- The factory maintained only a skeleton crew throughout the strike to ensure that the essential machinery remained operational and safe.

## Origin

From the 18th-century military sense of a skeleton as a regiment reduced to a very small number of soldiers, far short of its established strength. The term evolved into an attributive use denoting the bare essentials or the absolute minimum required for operation. Metaphorically, a skeleton crew is one that has been stripped of its substance until it consists of the bare bones rather than an adequately fleshed-out body of personnel.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.