Meanings
nounbag of bones (plural bags of bones)
plural bags of bones
- idiomaticA skinny, malnourished person or animal.
Bradly came out from hiding with a dyspeptic grunt, too depressed by ignominy to send a curse after the old woman. That old bag of bones to bring down cataclysm on him! That old thing the nemesis of an inspired aspiration!
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 211Synonyms: rickle o' banes
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA skinny, malnourished person or animal.
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Also see
Translations
Ancient Greek κάναβος
- κάναβος (kánabos)a skinny person
Chinese Mandarin 骨瘦如柴
- 骨瘦如柴 (gǔshòurúchái)a skinny person
Dutch scharminkel
- scharminkela skinny person
Estonian kondikubu, luu ja nahk
- kondikubua skinny person
- luu ja nahka skinny person
Finnish luukasa
- luukasaa skinny person
French sac d'os, paquet d'os
- sac d'osa skinny person
- paquet d'osa skinny person
German Haut und Knochen
- Haut und Knochena skinny person
Hungarian csontkollekció, csontváz
- csontkollekcióa skinny person
- csontváza skinny person
Japanese 痩せっぽち
- 痩せっぽち (yaseppochi)a skinny person
Polish skóra i kości
- skóra i kościa skinny person
Russian ко́жа да ко́сти, мешо́к с костя́ми
- ко́жа да ко́сти (kóža da kósti)a skinny person
- мешо́к с костя́ми (mešók s kostjámi)a skinny person
- живы́е мо́щи (živýje móšči)a skinny person
- Коще́й бессме́ртный (Koščéj bessmértnyj)a skinny person
Swedish benrangel
- benrangela skinny person
Cite this entry
APA
bag of bones. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bag%20of%20bones
MLA
“bag of bones.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bag%20of%20bones. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bag of bones,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bag%20of%20bones.
Source: bag of bones on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.