bare bones

plural noun

1. the irreducible minimum; the most essential components:

   Reduce this report to its bare bones. There is nothing left of the town but the bare bones—a couple of stores, a church, and a few houses.

bare-bones

adjective

1. basic or simple; no-frills

Other Words From

• bare-bones adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bare bones¹

First recorded in 1910–15

Idioms and Phrases

The mere essentials or plain, unadorned framework of something, as in This outline gives just the bare bones of the story; details will come later . This phrase transfers the naked skeleton of a body to figurative use. [c. 1900]

Example Sentences

I’ve enjoyed stripping the songs back down to the bare bones and enjoyed that they’re still sturdy enough to withstand that kind of stripping away.

From Los Angeles Times

If you have already cut your budget to the bare bones, it may be time for another tactic: negotiation.

From Salon

"Frankly speaking, I think it's 'bare bones'- a bill without substance", he says.

From BBC

Hoping for a positive result for Newcastle at SJP, but my word, we are down to bare bones.

From BBC

"I imagine we can get going within the next month or so with a bare bones team and set of machinery and tools," he said.

From BBC