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Showing results for cut to the bone. Search instead for cut+to+ribbons.
Synonyms

cut to the bone

Idioms  

  1. 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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"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 • Dec. 26, 2022

Sarah Manguso has earned acclaim for memoirs that cut to the bone.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2022

That’s why substantial investigative teams are rare, especially as newspapers cut to the bone to survive.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2021

What you couldn’t eliminate, you attempted to cut to the bone.

From Slate • Nov. 7, 2020

I can’t suffer looking at the university’s gleaming glass administration building—all clean lines and razor-sharp edges that cut to the bone.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.