DictionaryAI

boner

noun
USBOH-ner/ˈboʊ.nɚ/UKBOH-nuh/ˈbəʊ.nə(ɹ)/

Pluralboners

5 meanings of boner

Practice

  1. 1
    erect penisnounslangvulgarcountable
    A penis in a stiffened, erect state.

    UsageUsually get or have a boner; erection is the neutral word.

    Similarerection, hard-on

  2. 2
    strange likingnounslangvulgarfigurativelycountable
    An often perverse enjoyment of, or fondness for, something.

    The new manager has a weird boner for spreadsheets and color-coded charts.

    Critics say the network has a boner for reboots of shows nobody asked to see again.

    UsageAlmost always have a boner for something the speaker finds odd or excessive.

    Similarthing, fetish, obsession

    Note

    Here the anatomy becomes a jab at someone's enthusiasms, and it keeps all the coarseness of the literal meaning.

  3. 3
    silly mistakenoundatedcountable
    A foolish blunder or silly mistake, especially one made in baseball.

    The rookie pulled a boner in the ninth inning, forgetting how many outs there were and jogging off the field too early.

    SO! THEY LAUGH AT MY BONER, WILL THEY?? I'LL SHOW THEM! I'LL SHOW THEM HOW MANY BONERS THE JOKER CAN MAKE!
    1951, Bill Finger, “The Joker's Comedy of Errors!”

    UsageToday the vulgar meaning can raise unintended laughs, so blunder or mistake is safer.

    Similarblunder, mistake, goof, howler, gaffe

    Note

    This is older slang, heard especially in baseball, where a misplay or a mental lapse is a boner. It takes pull or make: he pulled a boner, and the Joker, in a 1951 Batman story written by Bill Finger, vows to show how many boners he can make.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The blunder sense is older slang, dating from the early twentieth century. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Batman story containing the remark was published in 1951 and written by Bill Finger. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Joker vows to demonstrate how many boners he can make. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    meat cutternouncountable
    A person who removes bones, or a tool or machine used to remove them.

    The packing plant hired three more boners to keep up with the holiday ham orders.

    An automatic boner pulls the pin bones from each salmon fillet as it moves down the line.

  2. 5
    noun
    A humorous name for a trombonist, a musician who plays the trombone.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of boner apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Formed from bone + the suffix -er.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact