bone

See also: Bone, Bône, boné, bóne, and bône

English

Pronunciation

(General American) enPR: bōn, IPA^(key): /ˈboʊn/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bəʊn/
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /bəʉn/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /bɐʉn/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊn

Etymology 1

From Middle English bon, from Old English bān (“bone, tusk; the bone of a limb”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone”), from *bainaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike, beat”).

Cognate with Scots bane, been, bean, bein, bain (“bone”), North Frisian bien (“bone”), West Frisian bien (“bone”), Dutch been (“bone; leg”), German Low German Been, Bein (“bone”), German Bein (“leg”), German Gebein (“bones”), Swedish ben (“bone; leg”), Norwegian and Icelandic bein (“bone”), Breton benañ (“to cut, hew”), Latin perfinēs (“break through, break into pieces, shatter”), Avestan 𐬠𐬫𐬈𐬥𐬙𐬈‎ (byente, “they fight, hit”). Related also to Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”) (whence Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (“direct, prompt”), Scots bein, bien (“in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cosy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen”)), Icelandic beinn (“straight, direct, hospitable”), Norwegian bein (“straight, direct, easy to deal with”). See bain, bein.

Alternative forms

bane, byen (dialectal)

Noun

A bone.

bone (countable and uncountable, plural bones)

(uncountable) A composite material consisting largely of calcium phosphate and collagen and making up the skeleton of most vertebrates.
- a1420, The British Museum Additional MS, 12,056, “Wounds complicated by the Dislocation of a Bone”, in Robert von Fleischhacker, editor, Lanfranc's "Science of cirurgie."‎, London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, translation of original by Lanfranc of Milan, published 1894, →ISBN, page 63:
  Ne take noon hede to brynge togidere þe parties of þe boon þat is to-broken or dislocate, til viij. daies ben goon in þe wyntir, & v. in þe somer; for þanne it schal make quytture, and be sikir from swellynge; & þanne brynge togidere þe brynkis eiþer þe disiuncture after þe techynge þat schal be seid in þe chapitle of algebra.
(countable) Any of the components of an endoskeleton, made of bone.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene v], page 275, column 1:
  No Trophee, Sword, nor Hatchment o're his bones.
A bone of a fish; a fishbone.
A bonefish
- 2019: "Tres Bocas" by Scott Sadil, California Fly Fisher
  The reason I rarely fish for Mag Bay bones with a 5-weight or 6-weight is the number of fish that can turn light stuff inside out.
One of the rigid parts of a corset that forms its frame, the boning, originally made of whalebone.
One of the fragments of bone held between the fingers of the hand and rattled together to keep time to music.
Anything made of bone, such as a bobbin for weaving bone lace.
(figuratively) The framework of anything.
An off-white colour, like the colour of bone.
bone:
(US, informal) A dollar.
(American football, informal) The wishbone formation.
(slang) An erect penis; a boner.
(slang, chiefly in the plural) A domino or dice.
- 1899 (please specify the page), Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part:
  The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones.
(slang) A cannabis cigarette; a joint.
- 2006, Sean Conway, Gillis Huckabee (page 140)
  In between sets I took her outside, sat against a fence near the dumpster, and smoked a bone with her.
(figuratively) A reward.
- 1979, Pink Floyd, Nobody Home
  When I'm a good dog they sometimes throw me a bone in

Synonyms

os (rare)
(rigid parts of a corset): rib, stay
(reward): doggy treat

Hypernyms

skeleton

Hyponyms

aitchbone
aitch-bone
alveolar bone
arm bone
armbone
auditory bone
back-bone
backbone
barebone
bone age
bone apple tea
bone-ash
bone black
bone dry
bone-fire
bone folder
bone graft
bone-hard
bone head
bone idle
bone-in
bone in one's body
bone-meal
bone-mouth
bone oil
bone-on
bone-seeker
bone seeker
bone-shaker
bone spur
bone-tired
bone tired
breastbone
breast bone
calf bone
cannon bone
canon bone
capitate bone
carpal bone
cheekbone
cheek bone
cheek-bone
chevron bone
chill to the bone
coffin bone
collar bone
collar-bone
collarbone
cramp bone
crazy bone
cuboidal bone
cuboid bone
cuneiform bone
cuttlebone
cuttlefish bone
dentary bone
dermal bone
dog bone
dragonbone
dry bone
earbone
elbow bone
epipubic bone
ethmoid bone
exercise bone
falling off the bone
featherbone
fingerbone
fishbone
flesh and bone
folding bone
folding-bone
footbone
forearm bone
frontal bone
funny bone
glass bone disease
hamate bone
haunch bone
H bone
heel bone
herringbone
herring-bone
hip bone
huckle bone
hyoid bone
incisive bone
innominate bone
intermediate cuneiform bone
Ishango bone
jawbone
jaw bone
jaw-bone
knucklebone
lachrymal bone
lacrimal bone
lateral cuneiform bone
legbone
like a bulldog with a bone
lingual bone
long bone
lunate bone
malar bone
marrowbone
marsupial bone
mastoid bone
medial cuneiform bone
membrane bone
membrane-bone
metacarpal bone
Murphy-Lane bone skid
nasal bone
navicular bone
neckbone
occipital bone
oracle bone
otic bone
palatine bone
parietal bone
pedal bone
penile bone
penis bone
pin bone
pisiform bone
pizza bone
plate bone
pneumatic bone
point the bone
pull bone
pulley bone
quadrate bone
radial bone
rag-and-bone man
rag-and-bone shop
rider's bone
ridge-bone
ridgebone
romancing the bone
roofing bone
rostral bone
ruel-bone
scaphoid bone
semilunar bone
sesamoid bone
shinbone
shoulder bone
sit bone
skullbone
soup bone
speal-bone
sphenoid bone
splenial bone
splint bone
splinter bone
spoke-bone
stirrup bone
tailbone
tail bone
tarsal bone
tau bone
t-bone
T-bone
temporal bone
throw someone a bone
Tilly bone
tongue bone
to one's bone
toss a bone to
toss them a bone
trapezium bone
trapezoid bone
triquetral bone
triquetrum bone
turbinate bone
twitter-bone
tympanic bone
vomer bone
what's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh
wishbone
wishing bone
Wormian bone
wristbone
yellow bone
zygomatic bone

Derived terms

all skin and bones
bad to the bone
bag of bones
bare-bones
bone ash
bonebed
boneblack
bone-chilling
bone china
bone-cruncher
bone-crunching
boned
bone-deep
bone density
bonedigger
bone-dry
bone earth
bone-eating snot flower worm
bone fire
bonefish
bonefolder
bone-grubber
bone hard
bonehead
boneheaded
boneheadedly
boneheadedness
bone-house wasp
bone-idle
bone in her teeth
bone in the throat
bone lace
boneless
bonelessness
bonelet
bone loss
bone marrow
bone mass
bone meal
bone morphogenetic protein
bone of contention
boner
bone scan
boneseeker
bonesetter
boneshaker
bone-shaking
bone-shakingly
Bonesman
bone spavin
bone structure
bone tissue
bone to pick
bone turquoise
bone up
bone wax
boneyard
bony
break-bones
bred-in-the-bone
breed in the bone
brittle bone disease
chew the meat and spit out the bones
close to the bone
crossbones
dog and bone
dog bone spanner
dog bone wrench
dry as a bone
flesh and bones
God's bones
have a bone in one's leg
have a bone to pick
in one's bones
jump one's bones
keep one's bone green
lazy bones
like a dog with a bone
lucky-bone
make no bones about
make old bones
make one's bones
meat on the bones
Napier's bones
near the bone
no bones about it
oracle bone script
phantom bone disease
rag and bone man
rag and bone shop
rattle the bones
rickle of bones
ring-bone
sawbones
skin and bone
skin and bones
skull and bones
soaked to the bone
soaked to the bones
St. Hugh's bones
sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
T-bone steak
throw a bone to
tickle someone's funny bone
to one's bones
to the bone
to the bones
whirl-bone
with every bone in one's body
work one's fingers to the bone

Translations

See bone/translations § Noun.

Adjective

bone (not comparable)

Of an off-white colour, like the colour of bone.

Verb

bone (third-person singular simple present bones, present participle boning, simple past and past participle boned)

To prepare (meat, etc) by removing the bone or bones from.
Synonyms: debone, unbone
- 1949, Kenneth Lewis Roberts, I Wanted to Write‎, page 44:
  One of the fish stalls specialized in boning shad, and he who has never eaten a boned shad baked twenty minutes on a hot oak plank has been deprived of the most delicious morsel that the ocean yields.
- 1977, Prosper Montagné, Charlotte Snyder Turgeon, The New Larousse Gastronomique‎, page 73:
  The ballottine is made of a piece of meat, fowl, game or fish which is boned, stuffed, and rolled into the shape of a bundle. The term ballottine should strictly apply only to meat, boned and rolled, but not stuffed.
- 2009, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, A History of Food‎, page 379:
  Then it is boned; keeping the bone in during cooking improves the flavour and enriches the meat with calcium.
- 2011, Aliza Green, Steve Legato, The Fishmonger's Apprentice‎, page 38:
  Other fish suited to boning through the back include small bluefish, Arctic char, steelhead salmon, salmon, small wild striped bass, hybrid striped bass, Whitefish, drum, trout, and sea trout.
To fertilize with bone.
- 1859 July 9, The Economist‎, page 758:
  He cites an instance of land heavily boned 70 years ago as “still markedly luxuriant beyond any other grass land in the same district.”
To put whalebone into.
- 1871, Figure-Training:
  Having my stays very fully boned and fitted with shoulder-straps.
(civil engineering) To make level, using a particular procedure; to survey a level line.
boning rod
(vulgar, slang, usually of a man, transitive, intransitive) To have sexual intercourse (with).
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate, Thesaurus:copulate with
Related terms: boned, boner
- 1993, “Back Seat (of My Jeep)”, in 14 Shots to the Dome, performed by LL Cool J:
  We're bonin' on the dark blocks / Wearin' out the shocks, wettin' up the dashboard clock
- 1997, “It's All About the Benjamins”, in No Way Out, performed by Puff Daddy:
  Stash in the buildin wit this chick named Alona / From Daytona, when I was young I wants to bone her
- 2006, Masta Ace (lyrics), “Sick of it all”, in Pariah:
  […] These cats stay rapping about cars they don't own / I am sick of rappers bragging about models they don't bone
- 2007, Stacey Deddo, The Elimination Special, Part II: The Elimination (Drawn Together), season 3, episode 14, Comedy Central, spoken by The Jew Producer (James Arnold Taylor):
  When we return we'll find out which one of our six remaining contestants' dreams will be totally ruined, like your mom's reputation after I bone her face.
- 2007, Reno Mounties (Reno 911!), season 4, episode 11, Comedy Central, spoken by Deputy Cherisha Kimball (Mary Birdsong):
  I swear on the good book that if you pull through, I will bone Travis Junior.
(Australia, dated, in Aboriginal culture) To perform "bone pointing", a ritual that is intended to bring illness or even death to the victim.
- 1962, Arthur Upfield, The Will of the Tribe, Collier Books, page 48:
  "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".
(usually with "up") To study.
bone up
- 1896, Burt L. Standish, Frank Merriwell's Chums:
  "I know it. You do not study." "What's the use of boning all the time! I wasn't cut out for it."
To polish boots to a shiny finish.
- c. 1980,, F. van Zy, SADF National Service (1979-1980)‎:
  […] the permanent boning (excessive polishing) of boots by recruits […]
To nag, especially for an unpaid debt.
- 1950, Asphalt Jungle:
  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!

Derived terms

bonable
boning
boning rod
debone
unbone

Translations

to remove bones

Bulgarian: обезкостявам (obezkostjavam)
Catalan: desossar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 起骨 (hei² gwat¹)
Mandarin: 去骨 (qùgǔ), 剔骨 (tīgǔ)
Finnish: poistaa luut
French: désosser (fr)
German: entbeinen (de), ausbeinen (de)
Greek: ξεκοκαλίζω (el) (xekokalízo)
Hungarian: kicsontoz
Ido: desostizar (io)
Italian: disossare (it)
Latin: exossō
Macedonian: вади коски (vadi koski)
Maori: kōhurehure, kokoki, mākiri (refers specifically to poultry)), kōhaha (refers to fish)
Portuguese: desossar (pt)
Russian: снима́ть мясо с костей (snimátʹ mjaso s kostej)
Slovak: odkostiť
Spanish: deshuesar (es) (meat), quitar las espinas (fish)
Swedish: bena ur (fish)
Turkish: kılçık temizlemek (fish)
Vietnamese: gỡ xương
Zazaki: zela weçinen

slang: have sexual intercourse with

Finnish: naida (fi), nussia (fi)
French: fourrer (fr), emmancher (fr), tirer sa crampe (fr), forniquer (fr), s’envoyer en l’air (fr)
German: ficken (de), bumsen (de), vögeln (de), poppen (de), nageln (de)
Hebrew: זיין‎ (ziyén), דפק‎ (he) (dafák)
Italian: fottere (it), scopare (it), chiavare (it)
Norwegian: pule (no), knulle (no)
Portuguese: transar (pt), foder (pt), comer (pt)
Slovak: pichať
Spanish: joder (es) con, (Spain) follar (es) con, (Mexico) coger (es) con, culear (es) (Chile), tirarse (es) a (Spain)
Turkish: sikişmek (tr)

to study

French: potasser (fr)
Spanish: (Mexico) quemarse las pestañas

Etymology 2

Unknown; probably related in some way to Etymology 1, above.

Verb

bone (third-person singular simple present bones, present participle boning, simple past and past participle boned)

(transitive, slang) To apprehend, steal.
- 1839, Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby‎, page 127:
  “Did I?” said Squeers, “Well it was rather a startling thing for a stranger to come and recommend himself by saying that he knew all about you, and what your name was, and why you were living so quiet here, and what you had boned, and who you had boned it from.”
- 1915, William Roscoe Thayer, The Life and Letters of John Hay:
  […] as long as you and I live I take it for granted that you will not suspect me of boning them. But to guard against casualties hereafter, I have asked Nicolay to write you a line saying that I have never had in my possession or custody any of the papers which you entrusted to him.
- 1936, J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Root of the Boot”, in Songs for the Philologists:
  But troll's old seat is much the same,
  And the bone he boned from its owner
- 1942, Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Canongate, published 2006, page 802:
  Therefore she wants to take results that belong to other people: she wants to bone everybody else's loaf.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French bornoyer to look at with one eye, to sight, from borgne one-eyed.

Verb

bone (third-person singular simple present bones, present participle boning, simple past and past participle boned)

(carpentry, masonry, surveying) To sight along an object or set of objects to check whether they are level or in line[1].
- 1846, W. M. Buchanan, A Technological Dictionary‎, page 151:
  Joiners, &c., bone their work with two straight edges.

Etymology 4

Clipping of trombone

Noun

bone (plural bones)

(slang) Clipping of trombone.

References

1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary

Anagrams

Beno, Boen, ebon

Afrikaans

Noun

bone

plural of boon

Danish

Etymology 1

From Low German and Middle Low German bōnen, from Old Saxon *bōnian, from Proto-West Germanic *bōnijan (“to polish”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈb̥oːnə]

Verb

bone (imperative bon, infinitive at bone, present tense boner, past tense bonede, perfect tense har bonet)

to polish

Etymology 2

Derived from the noun bon (“receipt”), from French bon (“voucher, ticket”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈb̥ʌŋə]

Verb

bone (imperative bon, infinitive at bone, present tense boner, past tense bonede, perfect tense har bonet)

to enter (in the cash register)
to charge

Esperanto

Etymology

From bona (“good”) +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbo.ne/
Hyphenation: bon‧e
Rhymes: -one
Audio (file)

Adverb

bone

well, OK

Hadza

Alternative forms

bune

Etymology

Borrowed from Sukuma βũne (“four (class XIV)”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bone/

Adjective

bone m (masc. plural bunibii, fem. boneko, fem. plural bonebee)

four

Ido

FWOTD – 30 October 2013

Etymology

From Esperanto bone (“well”), bona (“good”) +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbone/

Adverb

bone

well
- 2008, Margrit Kennedy, Pekunio sen interesti ed inflaciono, tr. by Alfred Neussner of Interest and Inflation Free Money, page 50:
  To pruvas maxim bone nia bonstando, se ica sumo distributesus nur proxime pro-porcionale.
  This would have served well as a proof of our prosperity if it were evenly distributed. (Original English, page 29)

Related terms

bona

Italian

Adjective

bone

feminine plural of bono

Latin

Adjective

bone

vocative masculine singular of bonus

References

“bone”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
bone in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
“bone”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976) The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

Lindu

Noun

bone

sand

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *bōna, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu.

Noun

bône f

bean

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Dutch: boon
- Afrikaans: boon
  - → Xhosa: imbotyi (from the diminutive)
- Berbice Creole Dutch: bono
- Negerhollands: bontśi, boontje, boonschi (from the diminutive)
  - → Virgin Islands Creole: bontsi (archaic)
- → Caribbean Javanese: bontyis (from the diminutive plural)
- → Indonesian: buncis (from the diminutive plural)
  - → Petjo: bontjies, boontjies
- → Javanese: buncis (from the diminutive plural)
- → Papiamentu: bonchi, boontsje (from the diminutive)
- → Sranan Tongo: bonki (from the diminutive)
  - → Caribbean Hindustani: bongki
Limburgish: boean

Middle English

Noun

bone

Alternative form of bane

Noun

bone (plural bones)

Alternative form of bon

Noun

bone

Alternative form of boon

Adjective

bone

Alternative form of boon

Adjective

bone

Alternative form of boun

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpone/

Verb

bone

inflection of botnit:
1. present indicative connegative
2. second-person singular imperative
3. imperative connegative

Old French

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbu.nə/

Adjective

bone

nominative feminine singular of bon
oblique feminine singular of bon

Turkish

Bir yüzme yarışı sırasında sporcunun taktığı bone.

Etymology

From French bonnet.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bo.ˈne/
Hyphenation: bo‧ne

Noun

bone (definite accusative boneyi, plural boneler)

(kıyafetler) bathing cap, swim cap, swimming cap.
Yüzücünün yarışta taktığı bone çıktı.
The swimming cap that the swimmer wore during the race came off.
(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Declension

Inflection

Nominative

bone

Definite accusative

boneyi

Singular

Plural

Nominative

bone

boneler

Definite accusative

boneyi

boneleri

Dative

boneye

bonelere

Locative

bonede

bonelerde

Ablative

boneden

bonelerden

Genitive

bonenin

bonelerin

Possessive forms
Nominative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	bonem	bonelerim
2nd singular	bonen	bonelerin
3rd singular	bonesi	boneleri
1st plural	bonemiz	bonelerimiz
2nd plural	boneniz	boneleriniz
3rd plural	boneleri	boneleri
Definite accusative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	bonemi	bonelerimi
2nd singular	boneni	bonelerini
3rd singular	bonesini	bonelerini
1st plural	bonemizi	bonelerimizi
2nd plural	bonenizi	bonelerinizi
3rd plural	bonelerini	bonelerini
Dative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	boneme	bonelerime
2nd singular	bonene	bonelerine
3rd singular	bonesine	bonelerine
1st plural	bonemize	bonelerimize
2nd plural	bonenize	bonelerinize
3rd plural	bonelerine	bonelerine
Locative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	bonemde	bonelerimde
2nd singular	bonende	bonelerinde
3rd singular	bonesinde	bonelerinde
1st plural	bonemizde	bonelerimizde
2nd plural	bonenizde	bonelerinizde
3rd plural	bonelerinde	bonelerinde
Ablative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	bonemden	bonelerimden
2nd singular	bonenden	bonelerinden
3rd singular	bonesinden	bonelerinden
1st plural	bonemizden	bonelerimizden
2nd plural	bonenizden	bonelerinizden
3rd plural	bonelerinden	bonelerinden
Genitive
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	bonemin	bonelerimin
2nd singular	bonenin	bonelerinin
3rd singular	bonesinin	bonelerinin
1st plural	bonemizin	bonelerimizin
2nd plural	bonenizin	bonelerinizin
3rd plural	bonelerinin	bonelerinin

Predicative forms
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	boneyim	bonelerim
2nd singular	bonesin	bonelersin
3rd singular	bone bonedir	boneler bonelerdir
1st plural	boneyiz	boneleriz
2nd plural	bonesiniz	bonelersiniz
3rd plural	boneler	bonelerdir

Venetian

Adjective

bone

feminine plural of bon

[1] 1874, Edward H. Knight, American Mechanical Dictionary

bone

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Noun

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

Etymology 2

Verb

Etymology 3

Verb

Etymology 4

Noun

References

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Noun

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Verb

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

Esperanto

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adverb

Hadza

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Ido

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adverb

Related terms

Italian

Adjective

Latin

Adjective

References

Lindu

Noun

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Noun

Inflection

Descendants

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

Noun

Noun

Adjective

Adjective

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

Verb

Old French

Pronunciation

Adjective

Turkish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Venetian