Moulting

Moulting, a general name for the process by which birds lose some of their feathers, or crustaceans cast their cuticular shells, or young insects get rid of their outer husk in metamorphosis. The shedding of the hair in mammals and the sloughing of snakes, &c. are also analogous. See BIRD, CRAB, CRUSTACEA, HAIR, INSECTS, SNAKE, &c.