cut to the bone

Idioms  

1. Severely reduced, as in During the Depression Grandmother's housekeeping money was cut to the bone. The phrase to the bone, literally meaning “through the flesh to the inmost part or core,” dates from about 1400. This expression in effect means that everything extraneous has been cut away so that only bone remains.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cut to the bone

She's "cut to the bone" by the careless words of a lover.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

In some places, it cut to the bone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

"Their budget has been cut to the bone, and they are unable to perform many responsibilities that are vital to the national interest."

From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2022

However, more than half of our state’s dailies are now ghost newspapers, with newsrooms that have been cut to the bone by hedge funds.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2021

I can’t suffer looking at the university’s gleaming glass administration building—all clean lines and razor-sharp edges that cut to the bone.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Related Words

• abbreviate
• compress
• curtail
• cut
• cut back
• cut down
• lessen
• minimize
• reduce
• shrink
• slash
• trim