Word.ws English Dictionary

throwing a bone to

throwing a bone to is the present participle and gerund 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

Questions about throwing a bone to

What is throwing a bone to the present participle and gerund of?
Throwing a bone to is the present participle and gerund of throw a bone to.

Words near throwing a bone to in the dictionary

  1. throweth
  2. throwie
  3. throwies
  4. throwin'
  5. throwing
  6. throwing a bone to
  7. throwing a fit
  8. throwing a kiss
  9. throwing a mickey
  10. throwing a monkey wrench in the works
  11. throwing a monkey wrench into the works

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throwing a bone to (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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