skeleton in the cupboard

English

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Noun

skeleton in the cupboard (plural skeletons in the cupboard or skeletons in the cupboards)

  1. (UK, idiomatic) A shameful secret.
    • 2005, Eileen Knowles, chapter 11, in Roses for Robina (Linford Romance Library), large print edition, Leicester, Leicestershire: Linford, published 2017, →ISBN, page 292:
      ‘I expect all families have some skeletons in the cupboards,’ Robina said with a smile of understanding. ‘I know I have some relatives who embarrass me, but you have done nothing to be ashamed of that I can see. […]’

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