make one's bones

present singular third person makes one's bones · participle present making one's bones · participle past made one's bones · past made one's bones

1. To commit a murder in order to be respected in a criminal gang.

   Mario Cacciatore was fourteen when he made his bones.

   1976, Gloria Vitanza Basile, The Godson, page 232

2. broadlyTo establish one's bona fides; to establish status and respect.

   Politicians—good ones, at least—make their bones by knowing which way the wind is blowing.

   2018 January 18, Eric Bradner, Chris Cillizza, “Republicans are running in 2018. Running from Trump”, in CNN.com, retrieved 04 Sep 2018

   1 more example

   Wearing, Brown and Hume all made their bones in an era when contemporary art fought for attention and had to insist it mattered – when in Britain, at least, it seemed cutting edge to like it at all.

   2023 October 11, Jonathan Jones, “Frieze London art fair review – a graveyard of creativity for tasteless one percenters”, in The Guardian, →ISSN