It can be skeletal, note (3)
I believe the answer is:
key
'note' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'it can be skeletal' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ky' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for key that I've seen before include "It opens the door" , "Lock-opener" , "Lock undoer" , "Scale system for music" , "One that locks" .)