Word.ws English Dictionary

in one's bones

in one's bones prepositional phrase: (of a feeling, belief, etc.) Derived from instinct, intuition, or an ingrained inclination.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) (of a feeling, belief, etc.) Derived from instinct, intuition, or an ingrained inclination.
    • He understood in his bones that the odds were not in his favor.
    • She could feel the rhythm in her bones.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, one's, bones: especially, referring to rheumatic aches sensitive to atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity.
    • As his aging hands became increasingly arthritic, he would often tell us that he could feel it in his bones when a snowstorm was coming.
    • She could feel the rhythm in her bones.

Origin of in one's bones

The figurative sense has a linguistic life of its own as a metaphor comparable with others such as at the heart of it all, but it is also related to the literal theme that people with rheumatism can feel weather changes in their bones and joints.

Questions about in one's bones

What does in one's bones mean?
In one's bones means (of a feeling, belief, etc.) Derived from instinct, intuition, or an ingrained inclination.
What part of speech is in one's bones?
In one's bones is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in one's bones in the dictionary

  1. in one voice
  2. in one's altitudes
  3. in one's back pocket
  4. in one's backyard
  5. in one's bare skin
  6. in one's bones
  7. in one's book
  8. in one's born days
  9. in one's corner
  10. in one's cups
  11. in one's dreams

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in one's bones (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.

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