bones

See also: bonés and bônes

English

The bones of a human foot

A pair of wooden musical bones

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bəʊnz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /boʊnz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊnz, -oʊnz

Noun

bones

1. plural of bone

Noun

bones

1. A percussive folk musical instrument played as a pair in one hand, often made from bovine ribs.
2. Dice for gambling.
3. (informal) Synonym of fist bump.
4. (plural only) The framework or foundation of something.
   • 2019, Maren Morris, “The Bones”:

     The house don't fall when the bones are good.

   • 2019 May 20, Joel Hurwitz, “Lost Boys” (4:36 from the start), in American Dad!‎^[1], season 16, episode 6, spoken by Jeff Fischer (Jeff Fischer):

     “Mom, when you look around the house, what do you see?” “Walls. Just a lot of walls.” “[Scoffs] Walls. What a noob. What do we see, Jeff, you and I?” “When I look at a house, I can see beyond the walls...” “Uh-huh.” “....above the ceiling...” “That's right.” “...and below the floor.” “Bingo.” “I can see its bones.” “Happy now, Francine?” “If we combine his instincts with your money, the sky's the limit.” “The sky, you say?” “He's surveying the bones of our house.” “He is? Well, don't hold out on us, Jeff. What do you see?” “[Breathes deeply] Your house has great bones.” [Sighs] “Wow, he's good.”

   • 2023 May 4, Joe Port & Joe Wiseman, “Woodstone's Hottest Couple” (15:11 from the start), in Ghosts‎^[2], season 2, episode 20, spoken by Mark (Tristan D. Lalla):

     “There's gotta be another place on this giant property I could stash these shoes. How about that barn out back?” “You want to put your expensive sneakers in some dilapidated old barn?” “Yeah, it's old, but it's got good bones. And it's actually got a solid roof to it.”

Synonyms

• (fists meeting equivalent to a high-five): fist bump, props

Derived terms

• Bonesman
• break-bones
• crossbones
• lazybones
• sawbones

Translations

percussive folk musical instrument

• Irish: cnámha f pl
• Italian: ossa (it)

the act of two fists meeting

See also

• (musical instrument): spoons

Verb

bones

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of bone

Anagrams

• Benos, Boens, Nobes, ebons

Asturian

Adjective

bones

1. feminine plural of bonu

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈbo̞.nəs]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈbɔ.nəs]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbɔ.nəs], (Girona) [ˈbo.nəs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈbɔ.nes]
• Rhymes: -ɔnes

Adjective

bones

1. feminine plural of bo

Interjection

bones

1. ellipsis of bones tardes (“good afternoon”)

Cornish

Alternative forms

• bos

Etymology

See bos, see there for conjugation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔnəs/, /ˈbɔnəz/

Verb

bones (irregular)

1. alternative form of bos (“to be”)

Mutation

Mutation of bones

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
bones	vones	unchanged	pones	fones, vones*

* after 'th
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

French

Adjective

bones

1. feminine plural of bon

Ladin

Adjective

bones f pl

1. feminine plural of bon

Middle English

Noun

bones

1. plural of bone