Word.ws English Dictionary

throws a bone to

throws a bone to is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 throws a bone to

What is throws a bone to the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Throws a bone to is the third-person singular simple present indicative of throw a bone to.

Words near throws a bone to in the dictionary

  1. throwout
  2. throwouts
  3. throwover
  4. throwovers
  5. throws
  6. throws a bone to
  7. throws a fit
  8. throws a kiss
  9. throws a mickey
  10. throws a monkey wrench in the works
  11. throws a monkey wrench into the works

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throws 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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