bone

/boʊn/
noun
  1. Any of the hard pieces that form the skeleton of a human or animal body.
    • Dogs love to chew on a large bone.
    • The doctor examined the X-ray to check for a broken bone.
    • Calcium is important for keeping your bones strong.
  2. A material consisting of the hard, calcified tissue of bones, used for making tools, buttons, or ornaments.
    • Ancient people used bone to make needles and fishhooks.
    • The knife handle was carved from bone.
    • She wore a necklace made of polished bone beads.
  3. The basic or essential part of something (often used in the phrase 'the bare bones').
    • These are the bones of the argument, but we can expand on them.
    • The report gave only the bare bones of the plan.
    • We need to fill in the bones of the story with more details.
adjective
  1. Made of or resembling bone.
    • The button was a simple bone disc.
    • The museum displayed bone tools from the Stone Age.
    • She wore a bone comb in her hair.
  2. Of a pale off-white color like bone.
    • The dress was a beautiful bone shade.
    • She painted the walls a soft bone color.
    • He chose bone-colored curtains for the living room.
verb
  1. To remove the bones from (meat or fish) before cooking or eating.
    • She boned the leg of lamb for the roast.
    • The chef showed us how to bone a chicken breast.
    • You should bone the fish before frying it.
  2. To study or work very hard (often used in the phrase 'bone up on').
    • I need to bone up on my Spanish before the trip.
    • She boned up on the company's history before the interview.
    • He boned for the exam all weekend.
Synonyms
What does "bone" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean