Meaning

noun the skin that covers the top of the head

verb sell illegally, as on the black market

verb remove the scalp of

originFrom Middle English scalp, skalp, scalpe (“crown of the head; skull”). Originally a northern word, and therefore probably from a North Germanic source, although the sense-development is unclear; compare Sylt North Frisian Skolp (“dandruff”), Old Norse skálpr (“sheath”), Old Swedish skalp, Dutch schelp (“shell”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0