noun
shed skin; exuviae; ecdysis
Refers to the cast-off skin of snakes, insects, etc. Most commonly encountered in the idiomatic expression もぬけの殻 (empty shell, deserted state).
木の枝に蛇のもぬけが引っかかっていた。
A snake's shed skin was caught on the tree branch.
家に帰ったら、もぬけの殻だった。
When I got home, the place was deserted (like an empty shell).
Rare kanji spelling; not recommended for learners.
Variant kanji form with okurigana; also seen in 蛻けの殻.
抜け殻 also means shed skin or empty shell, but is more common in everyday language. もぬけ is largely restricted to the set phrase もぬけの殻.
The derivation is uncertain. The kanji 蛻 specifically means 'insect/snake molt', and the word is now mostly fossilized in the phrase もぬけの殻.