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Synonyms

bone to pick

Cultural  

  1. Having a “bone to pick with someone” means having a grievance that needs to be talked out: “I have a bone to pick with you, Wallace; I heard how you criticized me at the meeting last night.”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For Phillips though, there is a little bone to pick.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026

Last year, Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse had a bone to pick with banks, saying they had shut him and his industry out.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

On the chance that he does, I have a bone to pick with him – less cosmic, but something that speaks volumes about his probity and fitness for office.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2025

Our only bone to pick here is that Nov. 26 is being described as “after the election.”

From Slate • Sep. 7, 2024

“Shady, I’ve a bone to pick with you. That hooligan you’ve got staying here—” She stopped, realizing that Shady’s saloon was full of people who she was fairly certain were not his usual crowd.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.