Word.ws English Dictionary

throw someone a bone

throw someone a bone is the alternative form of throw a bone to.

Meaning of throw a bone to

Verb

throw a bone to (third-person singular simple present throws a bone to, present participle throwing a bone to, simple past threw a bone to, past participle thrown a bone to)

  1. (idiomatic) To provide support or assistance to, especially in one particular way or to a limited extent; to make a concession to.
    • There was considerable uneasiness in the bosoms of others of the Directors. […] [T]hey knew that Lord Alfred had sold shares, and had received the profit. […] And if there was so much cause to fear Lord Alfred that it was necessary to throw him a bone, why should not they also make themselves...1873 May 1 – December 22 (date written), Anthony Trollope, chapter 22, in The Way We Live Now. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Chapman and Hall, […], published June 1875, →OCLC

Forms of throw someone a bone

third-person singular presentthrows someone a bone
present participlethrowing someone a bone
pastthrew someone a bone
past participlethrown someone a bone

Questions about throw someone a bone

What is throw someone a bone the alternative form of?
Throw someone a bone is the alternative form of throw a bone to.

Words near throw someone a bone in the dictionary

  1. throw shade
  2. throw shapes
  3. throw signs
  4. throw smoke
  5. throw some shapes
  6. throw someone a bone
  7. throw someone a curve
  8. throw someone a curveball
  9. throw someone a rope
  10. throw someone out of bed
  11. throw something in someone's face

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw someone a bone (page history and authors); throw a bone to (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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