skull-and-crossbones

A form of skull and crossbones — A depiction of a human skull and two crossed femurs (thighbones), a symbol of death traditionally used on the Jolly Roger pirate flag, but now used on chemical containers and other hazardous items as an indicator of warning of toxicity or other life-threatening dangers or risks.

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Meanings

nounskull-and-crossbones (plural skull-and-crossbones or skulls-and-crossbones)

plural skulls-and-crossbones

  1. alternativeAlternative form of skull and crossbones.

    Because when I saw him again, the Bird had two skull-and-crossbones stenciled on his X-ray camera.

    1998 April, Michael Flynn, “Friends in High Places”, in David G[eddes] Hartwell, editor, Rogue Star (A Tor Book), New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 144
    2 more examples

    Overhead, the black flag with the white skull-and-crossbones symbolizing defiance of radio regulations fluttered limply atop the two-hundred-foot mast mounted on the converted coaster from which they operated.

    1969, John Brunner, chapter IX, in Double, Double, London: Gateway, Hachette, published 2011, →ISBN

    It was a quilted leather tote with tiny skulls-and-crossbones inside each diamond; Sirena's style was definitely impossible to miss. But the million-dollar question was: how had this girl snagged it? Everyone online was buzzing about this purse, but no one could get one.

    2015, Jen Jones [i.e., Jennifer Lynn Jones], chapter 1, in The New Ashley (Sleepover Girls), North Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Young Readers, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

skull-and-crossbones. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skull-and-crossbones

MLA

“skull-and-crossbones.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skull-and-crossbones. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skull-and-crossbones,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skull-and-crossbones.

Source: skull-and-crossbones on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.