have a bone to pick

Idioms and Phrases

see bone to pick .

Example Sentences

Look, I know it’s futile to have a bone to pick with Joe Manchin, a person who has stuck around in the Senate to fulfill this exact flavor of vanity: a desire to appear on television and be nonspecifically “troubled” by various avenues of the Democrats.

From Slate

But, for this reason alone, I have a bone to pick with garlic salt.

From Salon

Democrats on Capitol Hill have a bone to pick with oil companies after they raked in record profits last year thanks to high prices at the pump, even as they call for less production to combat climate change.

From Washington Times

Democrats on Capitol Hill have a bone to pick with school lunches, but it’s not the mediocre entrees or rising food costs: it’s the cow’s milk.

From Washington Times

“I have a bone to pick with all of Russia’s structures and authoritarian states around the world,” he said.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• aggressive
• antagonistic
• bellicose
• combative
• contentious
• hostile
• ornery
• quarrelsome