Word.ws English Dictionary

had a bone to pick

had a bone to pick is the simple past and past participle of have a bone to pick.

Meaning of have a bone to pick

Verb

have a bone to pick (third-person singular simple present has a bone to pick, present participle having a bone to pick, simple past and past participle had a bone to pick)

  1. (idiomatic, usually) To have a complaint or grievance (with somebody); to have a contentious issue to discuss.
    • "I offered her that sum if she would take the garment back. And she did, she did, and I shall never have to wear that dreadful satin again." ¶ I made a note of this dressmaker's name. She and I may have a bone to pick some day.c. 1900, Anna Katharine Green, The Ruby and the Cauldron

Questions about had a bone to pick

What is had a bone to pick the simple past and past participle of?
Had a bone to pick is the simple past and past participle of have a bone to pick.

Words near had a bone to pick in the dictionary

  1. had a bad time of it
  2. had a ball
  3. had a bath
  4. had a bird
  5. had a bite
  6. had a bone to pick
  7. had a brick in one's hat
  8. had a bun in the oven
  9. had a care
  10. had a clue
  11. had a cob on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: had a bone to pick (page history and authors); have a bone to pick (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “had a bone to pick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/had_a_bone_to_pick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.