jawbone

[ jaw-bohn ]

noun

1. a bone of either jaw; a maxilla or mandible.
2. the bone of the lower jaw; mandible.

verb (used with or without object)

, jaw·boned, jaw·bon·ing.

1. Informal. to attempt to influence or pressure by persuasion rather than by the exertion of force or one's authority, as in urging voluntary compliance with economic guidelines:

   The president jawboned the steel industry into postponing price increases.

adjective

1. Informal. obtained by or resorting to such a practice:

   jawbone controls.

jawbone

/ ˈdʒɔːˌbəʊn /

noun

1. a nontechnical name for mandible maxilla

verb

1. to try to persuade or bring pressure to bear (on) by virtue of one's high office or position, esp in urging compliance with official policy

Other Words From

• jawboning noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of jawbone¹

First recorded in 1480–90; jaw ¹ + bone

Example Sentences

After he died, after I placed his ashes in the Pacific Ocean — where it could wash away his radiated mouth, his poisoned blood, the stench from the gaping hole stretched across his cheek after the last clinical trial, so deep I could see his jawbone — I would return to Lozano’s every July 24.

From Salon

Forensic genealogists solve a 21-year-old case, linking a jawbone to a U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

A jawbone found in a child’s rock collection in Arizona more than two decades ago belonged to a Marine who died in California in 1951 and was buried in Missouri, the authorities said on Friday.

From New York Times

It was more than two decades ago when an Arizona man called sheriff’s deputies in Yavapai County, Ariz., to report a unique and disturbing discovery: While perusing his childhood rock collection, he’d found a human jawbone that had been mistaken for a stone.

From Los Angeles Times

Father and daughter, Justin and Ruby Reynolds from Braunton, Devon, found the first pieces of the second jawbone to be found in May 2020, while searching for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor, Somerset.

From Science Daily