the rigid material, made up largely of calcium salts, of which the adult skeleton of most vertebrate animals is chiefly composed
any of the hard structures consisting of this, that together compose the skeleton
baleen, ivory, or another hard substance resembling bone
any structure composed of this
(in pl)
a person's mortal remains
one's own body
rest one's weary bones
a strip of whalebone or steel used to stiffen a corset or dress
(in pl) thin bars of bone, ivory, or wood held in pairs between the fingers and used to produce musical rhythms
(in pl) dice
a domino
to know (something) instinctively or intuitively
informal to have a cause of complaint against (somebody), calling for mutual discussion and settlement
to have no hesitation in (doing or saying something potentially embarrassing or hurtful)
[originally make no bones at: possibly connected with the unwanted finding of bones in food, and a 15th-cent. source has the line ‘And fond that tyme no bonys in the matere’. But it is unclear how the phrase changed from ‘finding’ to ‘making’.]said of a remark: risqué, indecent, or too close to the truth
said of meat: with the bones left in it
reduced to the essentials
The text has been pared to the bone