bone

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   One of the hard, stiff parts that make up the skeleton of a person or animal.

   Grammar: Countable: use 'a bone' for one, 'bones' for many.

   Patterns

   • break a bone
   • a bone in something

   She broke a bone in her wrist while skating.

   The dog buried a bone in the garden.

   The human body has more than two hundred bones.

2. 2noununcountable

   The hard material that bones are made of, often used for making tools or buttons.

   Grammar: Uncountable when talking about the material: 'a button made of bone'.

   Patterns

   • made of bone
   • carved from bone

   The handle of the knife was made of bone.

   Ancient people carved tools from bone and stone.

Word forms

Common combinations

break a bone

He fell and broke a bone in his foot.

bone of contention

The fence between the gardens became a bone of contention.

feel it in your bones

I feel it in my bones that it will rain tomorrow.

bare bones

The report gives just the bare bones of the plan.

have a bone to pick with someone

I have a bone to pick with you about last night.

Word family

bony adjective

Thin, with little flesh, or full of bones.

boneless adjective

Having no bones, as in boneless chicken.

bone verb

To remove the bones from meat or fish.

Commonly confused: bone or bony?

Practice

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