bare bones

bare bones

1. noun The essential and most elementary parts of something; a general outline or summary. Please don't go through each line item in the budget—just give me the bare bones. We're having a pop quiz in English class today? Oh man, OK, tell me the bare bones of the plot. Here are the bare bones, just what is essential to know going into this conference.

2. adjective Having only the minimum of what is required. Hyphenated if used before a noun. The apartment is pretty bare bones, but rent is cheap, and I don't spend much time there, so I don't mind. We were given a pretty bare-bones budget to make this app, so it isn't very fancy or anything. Here is a bare-bones list of what is essential to know going into this conference.

See also: bare, bone

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

bare-bones

Cliché limited; stripped down; lacking refinements or extras. This one is the bare-bones model. It has no accessories at all.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

bare bones

The mere essentials or plain, unadorned framework of something, as in This outline gives just the bare bones of the story; details will come later. This phrase transfers the naked skeleton of a body to figurative use. [c. 1900]

See also: bare, bone

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

the bare bones

COMMON The bare bones of something are its most basic parts or details. We worked out the bare bones of a deal. We needed to strip the flat down to its bare bones. It was a terrific engineering and architectural challenge. Note: You can use bare-bones before a noun. The mayor will have to slash the city's already bare-bones budget.

See also: bare, bone

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

the bare bones

the basic facts about something, without any detail.

See also: bare, bone

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

the bare ˈbones (of something)

the main or basic facts of a matter: I had so little time that I could only tell him the bare bones of the story and had to supply the details later.

See also: bare, bone

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017