cut to the bone

verb

To reduce to the furthest extent possible, down to the bare essentials.

“Due to budget constraints, the company had to cut its expenses to the bone.”

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbcut to the bone (third-person singular simple present cuts to the bone, present participle cutting to the bone, simple past and past participle cut to the bone)

present singular third person cuts to the bone · participle present cutting to the bone

  1. To reduce to the furthest extent possible, down to the bare essentials.

    Due to budget constraints, the company had to cut its expenses to the bone.

Translations

Italian ridurre all'osso
  • ridurre all'ossoreduce as much as possible
Cite this entry
APA

cut to the bone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20to%20the%20bone

MLA

“cut to the bone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20to%20the%20bone. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cut to the bone,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20to%20the%20bone.

Source: cut to the bone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.