often attributive
1
a
: one of the hard parts of the skeleton of a vertebrate
b
: any of various hard animal substances or structures (such as baleen or ivory) akin to or resembling bone
c
: the hard largely calcareous connective tissue of which the adult skeleton of most vertebrates is chiefly composed
2
3
5
a
bones plural
: thin bars of bone, ivory, or wood held in pairs between the fingers and used to produce musical rhythms
b
: a strip of material (such as whalebone or steel) used to stiffen a garment (such as a corset)
c
6
: something that is designed to placate : sop
7
: a light beige
8
: inclination sense 4a
hadn't a political bone in his body—
John Hersey
John Hersey9
slang
: dollar
boned; boning
1
: to remove the bones from
bone a fish
2
: to provide (a garment) with stays
3
: to rub (something, such as a boot or a baseball bat) with something hard (such as a piece of bone) in order to smooth the surface
4
US, vulgar slang
: to have sexual intercourse with (someone)
: to study hard : grind
bone through medical school
Synonyms
Noun
- affection
- affinity
- aptitude
- bent
- bias
- devices
- disposition
- genius
- habitude
- impulse
- inclination
- leaning
- partiality
- penchant
- predilection
- predisposition
- proclivity
- propensity
- tendency
- turn
Adverb
- achingly
- almighty
- archly
- awful
- awfully
- badly
- beastly
- blisteringly
- colossally
- corking
- cracking
- damn
- damned
- dang
- deadly
- desperately
- eminently
- enormously
- especially
- ever
- exceedingly
- exceeding
- extra
- extremely
- fabulously
- fantastically
- far
- fiercely
- filthy
- frightfully
- full
- greatly
- heavily
- highly
- hugely
- immensely
- incredibly
- intensely
- jolly
- majorly
- mightily
- mighty
- monstrous [chiefly dialect]
- mortally
- most
- much
- particularly
- passing
- rattling
- real
- really
- right
- roaring
- roaringly
- seriously
- severely
- so
- sore
- sorely
- spanking
- specially
- stinking
- such
- super
- supremely
- surpassingly
- terribly
- that
- thumping
- too
- unco
- uncommonly
- vastly
- very
- vitally
- way
- whacking
- wicked
- wildly
Examples of bone in a Sentence
Noun
He broke a bone in his left arm.
The leg bone is connected to the knee bone.
We are all made of flesh and bone.
The handle of the knife is made from bone.
Adverb
The air is bone dry.
grew up in a backwoods area that was bone poor
Recent Examples on the Web
Abigail Adams, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
On his desk sat a file on the death of a man, reported missing in 1986, whose DNA was recently matched to a tibia bone found in 2009.
—Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2024
Kim Sunée, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Oct. 2021
It’s the champion of the all-around: agile enough to make delicate work of veggies and sturdy enough to bone a chicken.
—Amiel Stanek, Bon Appétit, 10 Nov. 2020
See all Example Sentences for bone 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Seven years after Burleigh was last seen, Cabrera found one of his bones.
—Abigail Adams, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
On his desk sat a file on the death of a man, reported missing in 1986, whose DNA was recently matched to a tibia bone found in 2009.
—Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2024
Verb
As to roasting, Don likes to bone out the chicken or spatchcock it by removing the backbone, before seasoning and rubbing with olive oil and roasting in the oven at 300 degrees for up to three hours.
—Kim Sunée, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Oct. 2021
It’s the champion of the all-around: agile enough to make delicate work of veggies and sturdy enough to bone a chicken.
—Amiel Stanek, Bon Appétit, 10 Nov. 2020
See all Example Sentences for bone
Dictionary Entries Near bone
Cite this Entry
“Bone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bone. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bone
1 of 2 noun1
a
: a hard material which is largely calcium phosphate and of which the skeleton of most vertebrate animals is formed
also
: one of the hard parts in which this material occurs
break a bone
b
: a hard animal substance (as baleen or ivory) similar to bone
2
: a cause of disagreement
—used in the phrases bone of contention and bone to pick
3
plural
: something usually or originally made from bone (as dice or clappers)
4
a
: the basic part
cut costs to the bone
b
: the most deeply ingrained part
knew in her bones it was wrong
5
plural
: body
rest my weary bones
bonelike
adjective
-ˌlīk
bone
2 of 2 verb
boned; boning
1
: to remove the bones from
bone a fish
2
: to study hard
bone up on math
Medical Definition
bone
noun1
a
: one of the hard parts that make up the skeleton of a vertebrate and that varies in size and shape
a shoulder bone
the bones of the hand
—sometimes used before another nounOsteoporosis is a major underlying cause of bone fractures in postmenopausal women and older persons in general.—The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association
b
: the hard largely calcareous (see calcareous sense 1) connective tissue of which bones are chiefly composed
cancellous bone
compact bone
—sometimes used before another nounAge-related bone loss begins in men and women at about age 35 and is caused by a slight but persistent elevation in the rate of bone resorption over the rate of bone formation.—Peter S. Millard et al., American Family Physician
compare cartilage sense 1
Peter S. Millard et al., American Family Physician2
: any of various hard animal substances or structures (such as baleen or ivory) akin to or resembling bone
Natural materials like cuttlefish bone, sea urchin spines, and seashells have all been studied and investigated extensively …—V. Lalzawmliana et al., Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and Engineering
V. Lalzawmliana et al., Springer Series in Biomaterials Science and EngineeringBiographical Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share