boner
1 Americannoun
noun
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slang a blunder
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slang an erection of the penis
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a low-grade slaughtered animal suitable for use in pies, sausages, etc
Etymology
Origin of boner1
First recorded in 1895–1900; bone + -er 1
Origin of boner2
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; bone(head) + -er 1
Explanation
A boner is an erection. It's also a word for mistake. Either way, you probably want to hide your boner. This is a very slangy word that is not fit for many situations. No one really wants to hear "I have a boner!" or "I made a boner!" — especially because the "erection" meaning has kind of overshadowed the "mistake" meaning. If you mess up, you're better off with a word like goof, flub, blunder, or snafu. Those words are all kind of fun, and they won't get you in any more trouble than you're already in for making a boner.
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.
New to politics, new to public affairs, he made many a boner.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Ezra," said he, "you pulled a boner and the thing to do is admit it."
From Time Magazine Archive
In August 1939, Pundit Kaltenborn confesses, he made a prize boner.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sen. Mc Carthy in turn has pulled the boner of questioning, by inference, the President's enmity to Communism.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sixteen years went by before the Lewis brothers, one a butcher, the other a beef boner, became the first black hires in the Yard.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
