bare bones

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word bare bones. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word bare bones, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say bare bones in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word bare bones you have here. The definition of the word bare bones will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofbare bones, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: barebones and bare-bones

English

Etymology

By metaphor with the skeleton versus the whole body including the flesh.

Noun

bare bones pl (plural only)

  1. The essential elements of something; the minimum viable set of elements; especially when they are described without going into detail.
    He had only been taught the bare bones of the system, but carried on regardless.
    • 1982 April 10, Michael Bronski, “We Are How We Cook”, in Gay Community News, page 7:
      The bare bones of a cookbook are its recipes, but as a genre it is so elastic and malleable that it can contain a range of other purposes and dimensions.

See also