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

Better to bone up on all the rules and loopholes.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

I want to be clear that this is not necessarily a requirement, that everybody bone up on Nietzsche.

From Salon • May 15, 2022

The senior surgeon at a Paris hospital put the image of a woman's forearm with a Kalashnikov bullet lodged near the bone up for sale online as an NFT.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2022

So, voters, fish your ballot out of your mail pile and bone up to ensure strong leaders are leading our region’s cities, counties, schools, port districts and other local jurisdictions.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 14, 2021

If we were going to play by our own rules, we’d have to bone up on our acting skills.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon