bare bones
the irreducible minimum; the most essential components: Reduce this report to its bare bones. There is nothing left of the town but the bare bones—a couple of stores, a church, and a few houses.
Origin of bare bones
1Other words from bare bones
- bare-bones, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bare bones in a sentence
From that meeting, they generate a barebones, two-page outline.
This Is How an Episode of Cartoon Network’s ‘Adventure Time’ Is Made | Rich Goldstein | December 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd this yer's the gov'nor's desk; and here old Praise god Barebones sits opposite ye.
Two Men of Sandy Bar | Bret HarteYour Barebones, and Hop-an'-jumps, and creatures of that vulgar herd, are quite out of my category.'
Miss Elliot's Girls | Mrs Mary Spring CorningAnd old Father Murray is just the dearest old man ever was, and hasn't got a long, solemn face like Mr. Barebones.
The Actress' Daughter | May Agnes Fleming"Praise God Barebones," I think, must have made the selection of the volumes.
Caper-Sauce | Fanny Fern
He was a prominent member of the Barebones Parliament, but after its extinction ceased to exercise any political influence.
State Trials, Political and Social | Various
British Dictionary definitions for bare-bones
basic or simple; no-frills
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with 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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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