bare bones

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See synonyms for: bare bones / barebones on Thesaurus.com

plural noun

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.

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of bare bones

First recorded in 1910–15

OTHER WORDS FROM bare bones

bare-bones, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bare bones in a sentence

This year, a bare-bones welfare program will continue into the New Year without being updated.
To GOP Congress, as Usual, It’s Welfare on the Chopping Block|Monica Potts|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Instead of being strong and resilient, bones become weak and brittle.
You’re Never ‘Cured’ of an Eating Disorder|Carrie Arnold|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My surgeon told me my bones were so soft he could barely install the screws.
You’re Never ‘Cured’ of an Eating Disorder|Carrie Arnold|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But even if the great conqueror lies elsewhere, the Kasta bones might well be those of his wife.
Is This Alexander the Great’s Tomb—or His Wife’s?|James Romm|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“Bare [sic] with me on vlogmas,” she told her fans in a Tweet.
Meet Zoella—The Newbie Author Whose Book Sales Topped J.K. Rowling|Lucy Scholes|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Eggs and nestlings were found lying on the bare soil at the inner ends of the burrows; no nesting material was found.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
Sometimes the stems are quite bare; on other occasions they are partly branched; in any case the branches are short.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
She thrust a bare, white arm from the curtain which shielded her open door, and received the cup from his hands.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
From Canada on the north, to Texas on the south, the hot winds had laid the land seemingly bare.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Her little neck and arms were bare, and her hair, artificially crimped, stood out like fluffy black plumes over her head.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for bare bones

bare-bones

adjective

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

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]

bare bones

Origin of bare bones

OTHER WORDS FROM bare bones

Words related to bare bones

How to use bare bones in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bare bones

Other Idioms and Phrases with bare bones