Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: HUMAN

Language: Old English
Origin: ban

bone

1 noun
     
bone1 S2 W2
1 [countable]HBHHBA 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 [uncountable] 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) something

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 something 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 somebody

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 something 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

DF meat that is served on the bone is still joined to the bone:
a boiled ham on the bone
14

off the bone

DF 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)
Definition of bone from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic HUMAN
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epidermis

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