a skeleton crew/staff, family skeleton

 Two skeletons found in Montana by commercial fossil hunters are to be auctioned in New York, where they could bring an estimated $7 million to $9 million.




family skeleton 家醜不可外揚
idiom:

skeleton in (one's) closet

1. A source of shame or disgrace, as in a family, that is kept secret.

Mr. Takeuchi and others in the online media point to a number of reasons the sites have failed, beginning with advertising revenues that are too low to support even a skeleton newsroom staff.

MF Global Lays Off Vast Majority of Broker-Dealer Employees The court-appointed trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global's broker-dealer unit laid off 1,066 employees on Friday, keeping only a skeleton staff to assist in the dissolution of the business.

在西方，以「頭顱骨」(skull，他們從中世紀才有這樣死神代表物說法。17世紀的墓葬雕塑，有時用骷髏skeleton代之) 的冥想「無常」為主，譬如說，耶蘇會的神修。代表老年。肖像畫中的它表示虔敬……。四種氣質中代表「憂鬱」。http://hccart.blogspot.tw/2013/07/dictionary-of-subjects-and-symbols-in.html

skeleton
n.

1. 1. The internal structure composed of bone and cartilage that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism; endoskeleton.
   2. The hard external supporting and protecting structure in many invertebrates, such as mollusks and crustaceans, and certain vertebrates, such as turtles; exoskeleton.
2. A supporting structure or framework, as of a building.
3. An outline or sketch.
4. Something reduced to its basic or minimal parts.
5. One that is very thin or emaciated.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or resembling a skeleton.
2. Reduced to the basic or minimal parts or members: a skeleton crew.