bone

SayBOHN/boʊn/UK/bəʊn//bəʉn/

27 meanings of bone

1
hard body partnouncountable
One of the hard, white parts inside the body of a person or animal.
Like the wooden frame that holds up the walls of a house.
The doctor said she had broken a bone in her foot.
Dogs love to chew on a big bone after dinner.
UsageOften break a bone.
Note
2
noununcountable
The hard, white material that makes up the skeleton of people and animals.
Like a brick wall built to carry heavy weight without breaking.
Bone is lighter than you might expect for something so strong.
The fracture slowly healed as new bone formed around the break.
UsageSay made of bone, with no a.
3
nounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
The basic frame or main parts that hold something together.
Like the frame of a house that holds up the walls and roof.
The basic bones of the plan were good, but the details needed work.
Hard-working families are the bone and muscle of our town.
UsageOften the bones of a plan: its main parts.
Similarframework, skeleton, core, backbone
4
utterlyadverb
Completely or totally, used before certain words to make them stronger.
Like putting 'totally' in front of a word to make it stronger.
After a summer with no rain, the riverbed was bone dry.
By midnight she was bone tired.
UsageUsed in bone dry and bone tired.
Similarcompletely, utterly, totally
Note

Less common meanings

5
remove skeletonverbtransitive
To take the bones out of meat or fish.
Like taking the seeds out of an apple before you eat it.
Ask the butcher to bone the chicken for you.
She boned the fish carefully before frying it.
UsageDebone means the same thing.
Similardebone
Note
6
concessionnounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
A small reward or treat given to make someone happy.
Like a small treat you give a dog to keep it happy.
Our coach threw us a bone and canceled one practice.
They threw the fans a bone by releasing one new song.
UsageUsually throw someone a bone: give them a little something.
Similarconcession, sop, sweetener
Note
7
cramverbintransitive
To study very hard, especially before a test.
Like filling your head with facts the night before a test.
I need to bone up on my Spanish before our trip.
We boned up on the rules the night before the quiz.
UsageUsed in bone up on something.
Similarstudy, cram, swot
Note
8
creamy whiteadjective
Having a pale, creamy white color, like an old bone.
Like the soft white of old piano keys.
She painted the bedroom walls a soft bone white.
He wore a bone jacket to the summer wedding.
Similarivory, cream, ecru, off-white
9
nouncountable or uncountable
A pale, creamy white color, like the usual color of bone.
Like the color of cream or old paper.
They repainted the whole kitchen in a warm bone.
Bone goes well with darker wooden furniture.
Similarivory, cream, ecru
Note
10
have sexverbslangvulgartransitive or intransitive
A rude slang word meaning to have sex with someone.
He just wants to bone, not date anyone seriously.
They boned for the first time after the party.
Similarbang, bonk, hump, penetrate, copulate
Note
11
erectionnounslangvulgarcountable or uncountable
A slang word for a man's penis when it is stiff.
He shifted in his seat, trying to hide the bone in his jeans.
The tight shorts did nothing to hide his bone.
Similarerection, hard-on
Note
12
dollarnouncolloquialUScountable or uncountableplural
One dollar.
Like calling a dollar a 'buck.'
He paid ten bones for the old guitar at the yard sale.
That used bike cost me fifty bones.
UsageSay ten bones for ten dollars.
Similarbuck, dollar, clam
13
cannabis jointnounslangcountable or uncountable
A hand-rolled cigarette made with cannabis.
He rolled a bone with the last of his weed and lit it.
A friend passed her a bone at the party, but she said no.
Similarjoint, spliff, doobie
Note
14
brass instrumentnounslangabbreviationclipping
Short for trombone: a brass instrument played by sliding a tube, in musicians' slang.
She grabbed her bone and joined the brass section.
He has played bone in the school band for years.
Note
15
rhythm piecenouncountable or uncountable
One of two small pieces held between the fingers and clicked together to keep a beat.
Like clicking two spoons together to keep a beat.
He clicked one bone against the other to keep the beat.
She played the bones while the band sang an old folk tune.
UsageUsually play the bones.
16
corset stripnouncountable or uncountable
One of the stiff strips that give a corset its shape.
Like the thin poles that keep a tent standing up straight.
A bone in her old corset had snapped and was digging into her ribs.
The old corset still had all its bones in place.
Similarstay
Note
17
domino tilenounslangcountable or uncountableplural
A single domino tile or dice cube used in a game.
Each player drew one bone from the pile.
He rattled the bones in his hand before the roll.
UsageFor dice, say roll the bones.
Similardomino, die
Note
18
stiffenverbtransitive
To sew stiff strips into clothing, like a corset, so it keeps its shape.
Like sewing stiff sticks into a jacket so it stands up straight.
Dressmakers bone the bodice so it holds its shape.
She boned the corset with thin strips of whalebone.
Similarstiffen
19
stealverbdatedtransitive
To steal something, or to catch and arrest someone.
But troll's old seat is much the same, And the bone he boned from its owner
1936, J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Root of the Boot”Here, boned means stole or took from someone.
Therefore she wants to take results that belong to other people: she wants to bone everybody else's loaf.
1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey FalconHere, bone means to steal or take for yourself.
Similarnick, pinch, nab, steal, arrest
Note
20
curseverbdatedAustraliatransitive
To point a bone at someone in a ritual believed to make them sick or even die.
“You don’t know!”, Bony echoed. “You can tell me who boned me fifteen years ago on the other side of the world, and you can’t tell me who killed the white-fella in the Crater”.
1962, Arthur Upfield, The Will of the TribeHere, boned means cursed by pointing a bone in a ritual to cause sickness.
Similarcurse, hex
Note
21
noun
An object made out of bone, like a small spool used to make lace.
22
nouncolloquial
An offensive formation in football where three runners line up in a Y shape behind the quarterback.
23
noun
A silvery fish that lives in warm, shallow ocean water and is popular with fishers.
24
verb
To shine boots until the leather looks smooth and glossy.
25
verb
To keep bothering someone, often to make them pay back money they owe.
Dix Handley: Don’t bone me! Cobby: Now look, I’m not boning you, Dix— Dix: Did I ever welsh? Cobby: Nobody said you did— Dix: You just boned me!
1950, Asphalt JungleHere, bone means to keep bothering someone, often to pay back money owed.
26
verb
To look along a row of posts or marks to check or make sure they are level and in a straight line.
27
verb
To add crushed bone to soil to help plants grow.
He cites an instance of land heavily boned 70 years ago as “still markedly luxuriant beyond any other grass land in the same district.”
1859, The EconomistHere, boned means fertilized by adding crushed bone to the soil.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–13, 15–18, 20

From Old English bān, meaning bone, and from an older Germanic word for bone that may go back to a root meaning "straight."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

Bone descends from Old English bān meaning bone and an earlier Germanic word. en.wiktionary.org
Old English bān meant bone. en.wiktionary.org
Derivation from an earlier word meaning straight is a possibility. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 19

Origin unknown, but probably connected somehow to the word "bone" (etymology 1).

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

The origin of bone in etymology 2 is unknown. en.wiktionary.org
It is probably related to bone in etymology 1. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 14

A shortening of the word "trombone."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Bone, meaning trombone, is a shortening of trombone. en.wiktionary.org