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exuviae

noun/ɪɡˈzjuːvɪiː/

C2CEFR level
95/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

The cast-off skin or shell left behind by an animal after moulting.

The papery exuviae of a dragonfly nymph clung to the reed stem.

Similar: slough, cast-skin

Origin: from Latin exuere 'to take off'

Topic: animal behaviour in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: animal behaviour