bone up
verb
boned up; boning up; bones up
1
: to try to master necessary information quickly : cram
bone up for the exam
2
: to renew one's skill or refresh one's memory
boned up on the speech just before giving it
Examples of bone up in a Sentence
I suggest you bone up a bit on torts before the next attempt at the bar exam.
Recent Examples on the Web
Specialized cells break old bone down while others build new bone up, and the two processes roughly keep pace.
—
Allison Palmer
updated June 3, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
All should bone up on budget-balancing and tell us their thinking.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
Sanders had boned up on socialism during his freshman year at Brooklyn College.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
This time, Newsom had been too busy practicing his State of the State address to bone up on a budget presentation.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bone up
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Allison Palmer
updated June 3, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
All should bone up on budget-balancing and tell us their thinking.
—George Skelton, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
Sanders had boned up on socialism during his freshman year at Brooklyn College.
—Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
This time, Newsom had been too busy practicing his State of the State address to bone up on a budget presentation.
—George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for bone up
Cite this Entry
“Bone up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bone%20up. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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