bone (redirected from pointed the bone at)

a bag of bones (informal)

a person or animal that is extremely thin. All the plumpness she'd acquired in middle age had gone. She was a bag of bones.

See also: bag

the bare bones

the most basic parts of something, without any detail. We believe we have the bare bones of an agreement. Reduced to its bare bones, the theory states that animals adapt to suit their surroundings.

See also: bare

bare-bones

the bare bones - the most basic parts of something, without any detail. Even from this bare-bones plot summary, we can deduce that the story is highly implausible. (always before noun)

be as dry as a bone

to be extremely dry. I don't think he's been watering these plants - the soil's as dry as a bone.

See also: dry

be bone dry

to be completely dry. The ground was bone dry after 3 weeks without rain.

See also: dry

be bone idle (British)

to be very lazy. She's bone idle - she just sits around the house all day watching TV.

See also: idle

be chilled to the bone/marrow

to be very cold. After an hour standing at the bus stop I was chilled to the bone.

See also: chill, marrow

be close to the bone

if something you say or write is close to the bone, it is close to the truth in a way that may offend someone. He said he was only joking, but his comments were a bit close to the bone. Your remark about people who've been in trouble with the police was very near the bone.

See also: close

be cut to the bone

if a service or an amount of money is cut to the bone, it is reduced as much as possible. How can we create quality programmes when our funding has been cut to the bone?

See also: cut

be skin and bone/bones

to be extremely thin. We saw a few stray dogs that were nothing but skin and bones.

See also: skin

a bone of contention

something that people argue about for a long time. The main bone of contention was deciding who would take care of the children after the divorce.

chill someone to the bone/marrow

to make someone feel very frightened. The sound of scraping at the window chilled me to the bone.

See also: chill, marrow

have a bone to pick with someone

something that you say when you want to talk to someone about something they have done that has annoyed you. I have a bone to pick with you. Did you eat that chocolate mousse I was saving for my tea?

See also: pick

he/she doesn't have a [jealous, mean, unkind etc.] bone in his/her body

something that you say in order to emphasize that someone is not jealous, mean, unkind etc.. He'd never deliberately hurt someone's feelings - he doesn't have a mean bone in his body.

See also: body, doesn't, her, his, she, unkind

I (can) feel it in my bones.

something that you say when you are certain something is true or will happen, although you have no proof. Something terrible is going to happen. I feel it in my bones.

See also: feel

make no bones about something

to say clearly what you think or feel although you may embarrass or offend someone. He made no bones about his dissatisfaction with the service in the hotel. She makes no bones about wanting John to leave.

See also: about

Sticks and stones may break my bones (but words will never hurt me).

something that you say which means that people cannot hurt you with bad things they say or write about you. Criticism has never bothered me. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and all that.

See also: break, may, Stick, stone

there isn't a [mean, jealous, unkind etc.] bone in someone's body

he/she doesn't have a [jealous, mean, unkind etc.] bone in his/her body - something that you say in order to emphasize that someone is not jealous, mean, unkind etc.. She wasn't the possessive type, and there wasn't a jealous bone in her body.

See also: body, isn't, there, unkind

wear/work your fingers to the bone

to work very hard for a very long time. I've been working my fingers to the bone to get the dress ready in time for the wedding.

See also: finger, wear, work

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a bone of contention

a matter of disagreement. Legal costs have continued to be a bone of contention between the two groups.

a bone to pick with someone

a small disagreement with someone. My sister and I had a bone to pick with our parents over where we'd go on vacation.

See also: pick

bone up (on something)

to study or improve your understanding of something, esp. for a test. The test includes history, math, and languages, so I'll have to bone up on a lot of subjects. With new developments in medicine happening all the time, doctors continually need to bone up.

close to the bone

very personal or offensively honest. He said he was only joking, but his comments were so close to the bone they weren't funny at all.

See also: close

feel something in your bones

to know something is true, although it cannot be proved. I knew something terrible was going to happen — I could feel it in my bones.

See also: feel

make no bones about something

to say clearly what you think or feel about something. He made no bones about how bad he thought the food was.

See also: about

not have a type of bone in your body

to have none of the characteristic described. He was friendly and kind and didn't have a mean bone in his body.

See also: body

to the bone

as completely as possible. Over the past 10 years, music programs in the public schools have been cut to the bone. When the wind whips around the house, even with the heat turned up I get chilled to the bone.

Etymology: based on the idea of cutting all the meat from a bone, which leaves nothing that can be eaten