debone

American

[dee-bohn] / diˈboʊn /

verb (used with object)

to remove the bones from (meat, fish, or fowl); bone.

Before cooking, the chicken breasts should be deboned with a small, sharp knife.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

deboner

noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of debone

First recorded in 1940–45; de- + bone

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.

See Examples For:

debone debones deboned deboning

By age 6, he recalled, he was helping debone carcasses on the shop floor.

From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2022

The company will increasingly use machines, instead of people, to debone chicken, one of its most labor-intensive jobs and a position with high turnover, said David Bray, group president of Tyson's poultry division.

From Reuters ● Dec. 9, 2021

In many plants, workers cut and debone meat in tight conditions, share meals in crowded cafeterias and walk the same narrow hallways, making social distancing practically impossible.

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2020

For those planning to debone the birds themselves, Sammy Herbert said the turkey will be the hardest.

From Fox News ● Nov. 20, 2018

Vegetables, for example, could get contaminated if they’re chopped on a cutting board previously used to, say, debone a chicken.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2017

The server debones and plates the duck in the shape of a turtle shell, leaving the mahogany skin glistening under a patina of fat.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2019

Wu-Bower slices cilantro while Wu debones pork belly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2019

Our tablemates had purchased a litany of fried options, including scotch eggs from the Quail Inn, which also serves bacon-wrapped jalapeño peppers, cheese fritters and “whole, partially deboned quail.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

Halim sued Buffalo Wild Wings months after dining on wings that weren’t actually deboned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

We especially enjoyed the empanadas criollas, beef with olives and raisins and deboned whole-fried yellowtail, served with Haitian pikliz, a pickled vegetable condiment, and Guasacaca, a Venezuelan avocado salsa.

From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2026

Tip: Your fish should be cleaned and gutted but not deboned.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2024

Served on skewers, the deboned, pressed and fried wings are glossed with a rich hot sauce and finished with a cube of blue cheese.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2023

He said police discovered the defendant had previously been employed as a skilled butcher and her work involved "deboning, and portioning out turkey carcasses using a large knife".

From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026

They have resorted to measures from deboning the bird to giving it a deep-tissue massage to stuffing a whole pineapple inside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025

Use your chef’s knife for most kitchen work, from chopping onions and garlic to slicing carrots to slicing a roast to deboning a chicken.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 9, 2023

In the early 1990s, Galiardi sold KFC a patented method for deboning thighs with a machine, resulting in the invention and great commercial success of popcorn chicken, Craig Cavallo wrote on the website Serious Eats.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2022

But the plants themselves became hot spots for the virus, as workers stood elbow to elbow chopping, deboning and packing meat and seafood.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 18, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023