boneless

comparative more boneless · superlative most boneless

1. Without bones, especially as pertaining to meat or poultry prepared for eating.

   boneless wings

   5 more examples

   Near-synonyms: boned, deboned

   boneless chicken

   boneless, skinless chicken

   The packers were always originating such schemes—they had what they called "boneless hams," which were all the odds and ends of pork stuffed into casings.

   1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter XIV, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906, →OCLC

   They argued over the menu. The fish was described as being 'Made From Flaky Tender Boneless Filets and the chicken as 'Delicious French Fried to a Golden Brown, Served Disjointed.'

   1954, Ian Fleming, “Allumeuse”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 107

   Synonyms: boned, deboned · Antonyms: unboned, bone-in

2. UShumorousWithout pizza crust; without pizza bones.
3. UKfigurativelyLacking strength, courage, or resolve.

   I'm scared, I'm just boneless with fright.

   1916, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 18, in Uneasy Money

   3 more examples

   I remember, when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum's circus, which contained an exhibition of freaks and monstrosities, but the exhibit … which I most desired to see was the one described as "The Boneless Wonder." My parents judged that the spectacle would be too revolting and demoralizing for my youthful eyes, and I have waited fifty years to see the boneless wonder sitting on the Treasury Bench.

   1931, Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 13 May

   Had the Green consortium made a straight bid, boneless fund managers would easily have outvoted private investors.

   2006 November 11, Graham Searjeant, “Loyalty pays off for M&S shareholders”, in The Times, London

   In his final years he [John Ogdon] gave an interview to an American journalist who noticed that "his handshake is a boneless fadeaway["].

   2014 May 11, Ivan Hewett, “Piano Man: a Life of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk, review: A new biography of the great British pianist whose own genius destroyed him [print version: A colossus off-key, 10 May 2014, p. R27]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)

   Synonyms: gutless, spineless, backboneless, base, soft, bitch-ass, caitiff, candy-assed

4. informalfurnitureOf a couch, cushionlike due to lacking a hard internal frame.