bone
♦ bone /b'oʊn/ (bones boning boned)
1 [N-VAR]
Your bones are the hard parts inside your body which together form your skeleton.
Many passengers suffered broken bones...
Stephen fractured a thigh bone...
The body is made up primarily of bone, muscle, and fat...
She scooped the chicken bones back into the stewpot.
2 [VERB] V n
If you bone a piece of meat or fish, you remove the bones from it before cooking it.
Make sure that you do not pierce the skin when boning the chicken thighs...
3 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A bone tool or ornament is made of bone.
...a small, expensive pocketknife with a bone handle.
4
see also marrow bone, T-bone steak
5 [PHRASE]
The bare bones of something are its most basic parts or details.
There are not even the bare bones of a garden here-I've got nothing.
6 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If something is too close to the bone, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is very close to the truth or to the real nature of something.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR about n
If you make no bones about something, you talk openly about it, rather than trying to keep it a secret.
Some of them make no bones about their political views.
8 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR about -ing
If you make no bones about doing something that is unpleasant or difficult or that might upset someone else, you do it without hesitating.
Stafford-Clark made no bones about reapplying for the job when Daldry was standing for it.
9 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If something such as costs are cut to the bone, they are reduced to the minimum possible.
It has survived by cutting its costs to the bone...
Profit margins have been slashed to the bone in an attempt to keep turnover moving.
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v
You use to the bone to indicate that you are very deeply affected by something. For example, if you feel chilled to the bone, your whole body feels extremely cold, often because you have had a shock.
What I saw chilled me to the bone.bone chi|na
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone china is a kind of thin china that contains powdered bone.bone dry
also bone-dry
[ADJ]
If you say that something is bone dry, you are emphasizing that it is very dry indeed.
Now the river bed is bone dry.bone mar|row
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone marrow is the soft fatty substance inside human or animal bones.
There are 2,000 children worldwide who need a bone marrow transplant.
= marrowbone meal
also bonemeal
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone meal is a substance made from animal bones which is used as a fertilizer.bone of con|ten|tion (bones of contention)
[N-COUNT]
If a particular matter or issue is a bone of contention, it is the subject of a disagreement or argument.
The main bone of contention is the temperature level of the air-conditioners.fun|ny bone (funny bones)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your funny bone is the soft part of your elbow which gives you an uncomfortable feeling on your skin if it is hit. (INFORMAL)mar|row bone (marrow bones)
also marrowbone
[N-VAR]
Marrow bones are the bones of certain animals, especially cows, that contain a lot of bone marrow. They are used in cooking and in dog food.
...marrowbone jelly.
1 [N-VAR]
Your bones are the hard parts inside your body which together form your skeleton.
Many passengers suffered broken bones...
Stephen fractured a thigh bone...
The body is made up primarily of bone, muscle, and fat...
She scooped the chicken bones back into the stewpot.
2 [VERB] V n
If you bone a piece of meat or fish, you remove the bones from it before cooking it.
Make sure that you do not pierce the skin when boning the chicken thighs...
3 [ADJ] usu ADJ n
A bone tool or ornament is made of bone.
...a small, expensive pocketknife with a bone handle.
4
see also marrow bone, T-bone steak
5 [PHRASE]
The bare bones of something are its most basic parts or details.
There are not even the bare bones of a garden here-I've got nothing.
6 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If something is too close to the bone, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is very close to the truth or to the real nature of something.
7 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR about n
If you make no bones about something, you talk openly about it, rather than trying to keep it a secret.
Some of them make no bones about their political views.
8 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR about -ing
If you make no bones about doing something that is unpleasant or difficult or that might upset someone else, you do it without hesitating.
Stafford-Clark made no bones about reapplying for the job when Daldry was standing for it.
9 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If something such as costs are cut to the bone, they are reduced to the minimum possible.
It has survived by cutting its costs to the bone...
Profit margins have been slashed to the bone in an attempt to keep turnover moving.
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v
You use to the bone to indicate that you are very deeply affected by something. For example, if you feel chilled to the bone, your whole body feels extremely cold, often because you have had a shock.
What I saw chilled me to the bone.bone chi|na
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone china is a kind of thin china that contains powdered bone.bone dry
also bone-dry
[ADJ]
If you say that something is bone dry, you are emphasizing that it is very dry indeed.
Now the river bed is bone dry.bone mar|row
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone marrow is the soft fatty substance inside human or animal bones.
There are 2,000 children worldwide who need a bone marrow transplant.
= marrowbone meal
also bonemeal
[N-UNCOUNT]
Bone meal is a substance made from animal bones which is used as a fertilizer.bone of con|ten|tion (bones of contention)
[N-COUNT]
If a particular matter or issue is a bone of contention, it is the subject of a disagreement or argument.
The main bone of contention is the temperature level of the air-conditioners.fun|ny bone (funny bones)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
Your funny bone is the soft part of your elbow which gives you an uncomfortable feeling on your skin if it is hit. (INFORMAL)mar|row bone (marrow bones)
also marrowbone
[N-VAR]
Marrow bones are the bones of certain animals, especially cows, that contain a lot of bone marrow. They are used in cooking and in dog food.
...marrowbone jelly.