bone

bone¹ W2S2 [bəun US boun] n

[: Old English; Origin: ban]

1.)

one of the hard parts that together form the frame of a human, animal, or fish body

▪ The X-ray showed that the bone was broken in two places.

hip/leg/cheek etc bone

(=the bone in your hip etc)

▪ He broke his collar bone.

big-boned/fine-boned/small-boned etc

(=with big etc bones)

▪ She was tall and big-boned.

▪ Amelia had inherited her mother's good bone structure .

2.) [U]

a substance made of bones

▪ the bone handle of his dagger

3.) the bare bones

the simplest and most important details of something

▪ I can't tell you more than the bare bones of what happened.

4.) make no bones about (doing) sth

to not feel nervous or ashamed about doing or saying something

▪ Mary made no bones about enjoying a drink.

5.) bone of contention

something that causes arguments between people

▪ The examination system has long been a serious bone of contention in this country.

6.) be chilled/frozen to the bone

to be extremely cold

7.) skin and bone

very thin

▪ She was all skin and bone.

8.) a bag of bones

someone who is much too thin

9.) feel/know sth in your bones

to be certain that something is true, even though you have no proof and cannot explain why you are certain

▪ She knew that something good was sure to happen; she could feel it in her bones.

10.) have a bone to pick with sb

spoken used to tell someone that you are annoyed with them and want to talk about it

11.) close to the bone

a remark, statement etc that is close to the bone is close to the truth in a way that may offend someone

▪ His jokes were a bit close to the bone.

12.) cut sth to the bone

to reduce costs, services etc as much as possible

▪ Shops cut prices to the bone in the January sales.

13.) on the bone

meat that is served on the bone is still joined to the bone

▪ a boiled ham on the bone

14.) off the bone

meat that is served off the bone has been cut away from the bone

▪ roasted duck, off the bone

→dry as a bone at ↑dry¹ (1), work your fingers to the bone at ↑work¹ (29)

bone ²

bone² v [T]

to remove the bones from fish or meat

▪ boned breast and thigh meat

bone up on [bone up on sth] phr v

to learn as much as you can about a subject, because you need the knowledge, for example for an examination

▪ I have to bone up on criminal law for a test next week.