cut to the bone

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

To stretch her legs, she had to leave a passenger door ajar, but September nights are raw in the Pacific Northwest, with sheets of rain that cut to the bone.

From Seattle Times

While the debt ceiling deal ostensibly "capped" all spending at 2023 levels for two years, nobody said that appropriations bills which had to be finished by September 30 couldn't be cut to the bone.

From Salon

Scarred torsos, amputated limbs, wrists cut to the bone: These are the signatures of a man caught between genocide and the burdens of his fate.

From Washington Post

White survived, but his wrists, cut to the bone, “required extensive medical care to rehabilitate the damaged and severed tendons.”

From Seattle Times

"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

Related Words

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