Word.ws English Dictionary

making one's bones

making one's bones is the present participle and gerund 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 making one's bones

What is making one's bones the present participle and gerund of?
Making one's bones is the present participle and gerund of make one's bones.

Words near making one's bones in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: making 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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