bred-in-the-bone
Americanadjective
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firmly instilled or established as if by heredity.
the bred-in-the-bone integrity of the school's headmaster.
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deeply committed or resolved; unwavering.
a bred-in-the-bone believer in civil rights.
Etymology
Origin of bred-in-the-bone
First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English; from the proverb “What is bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh,” first recorded in England (in Latin ) circa 1290, and widespread in various versions
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.
Liebling, and its power came from a bred-in-the-bone love of what we eat and how we eat it.
From Washington Post • Apr. 6, 2023
That the Mets, owing to uncertainty about his health and perhaps to their bred-in-the-bone cheapness, did not spend months planning Wright’s comeback/retirement lent a welcome spontaneity to this celebration.
From New York Times • Sep. 30, 2018
“I detest Parfit,” said Echikunwoke, with bred-in-the-bone conviction.
From New York Times • Mar. 18, 2012
Others have pointed to practical objections – US philanthropy comes from a completely different relationship between the public sphere and the arts: the US has a bred-in-the-bone culture of giving that we lack.
From The Guardian • Oct. 21, 2010
To the bred-in-the-bone rancher the mention of blackleg, that deadly contagious and most fatal of cattle diseases, is almost as startling as bubonic plague would be to the average human.
From Shoe-Bar Stratton by Gage, George W.
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.
