Skinning is the act of skin removal. The process is done by humans to animals, mainly as a means to prepare the meat beneath for cooking and consumption, or to harvest the skin for making fur clothing or tanning it to make leather. The skin may also be used as a trophy or taxidermy, sold on the fur market, or, in the case of a declared pest, used as proof of kill to obtain a bounty from a government health, agricultural, or game agency.

Two common methods of skinning are open skinning and case skinning. Typically, large animals are open skinned and smaller animals are case skinned.

Skinning, when it is performed on live humans as a form of torture, murder or capital punishment, is referred to as flaying.