bone up

British  

verb

1. informal (adverb; when intr, usually foll by on) to study intensively

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bone up Idioms  

1. Study intensely, as in I'll have to bone up on my Spanish if I'm to pass the language requirement. The verb bone alone was used in this sense from the mid-1800s on, up being added later. [Slang; late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

How did so many bones up and vanish?

From Science Magazine

Per the film, this is a natural consequence of not boning up on your “Emily Post.”

From Salon

Della Donna started boning up on criminal law, talking to every criminal attorney she could find and eventually turning to UCI Law School.

From Seattle Times

In 1989, a year after he finished his military service, he boned up on the language with a monthlong crash course in Budapest.

From New York Times

She logged thousands of miles on the road — she had ditched the BMW for a Ford F-150 pickup — and boned up on local issues, like broadband internet access and tick control.

From New York Times