Word.ws English Dictionary

makes one's bones

makes one's bones is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make one's bones.

Meaning of make one's bones

Verb

make one's bones (third-person singular simple present makes one's bones, present participle making one's bones, simple past and past participle 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. (broadly) To 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

Questions about makes one's bones

What is makes one's bones the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Makes one's bones is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make one's bones.

Words near makes one's bones in the dictionary

  1. makes off with
  2. makes off without payment
  3. makes one
  4. makes one's bed
  5. makes one's bed and lies in it
  6. makes one's bones
  7. makes one's bow
  8. makes one's entrance
  9. makes one's exit
  10. makes one's hand
  11. makes one's manners

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: makes one's bones (page history and authors); make 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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