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
Stallworth and Drew Gentry, her biology teacher who was fossil hunting with her, followed the trail of bone up a hill and discovered the skull of a prehistoric whale that may be a new species.
—
Outdoor Life, 20 Sep. 2023
There are resources for educators who want to bone up on A.I. in a hurry.
—Kevin Roose, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
The frames still manage to feel highly composed, as if the actors have been blocked to within an inch of their lives; Glazer has clearly boned up on his Haneke.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 May 2023
Time to bone up on your history, folks.
—Meirav Devash, Allure, 28 Sep. 2022
Part of that push comes in free trainings the group has offered for hundreds of Democratic campaign staff to bone up on digital best practices, paid fellowships for young digital staffers and $150,000 in digital ad-training grants for organizations based in battleground states.
—Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 25 Aug. 2022
And in her own unique way, she's been training for this moment — working as a guidance counselor for 20 years to become an expert in reading people, teaching Driver's Ed at the high school to learn pit maneuvers, and volunteering at the computer lab to bone up on complex data research.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 20 July 2022
If the win is closing the sale, bone up on your sales closing techniques.
—George Bradt, Forbes, 5 July 2022
And while many of these dinosaurs may never have occupied the same era, the same time period or even the same location, their appearance together on the silver screen may be a perfect chance to bone up on the taxonomy of the giant animals.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 9 June 2022
See More
Outdoor Life, 20 Sep. 2023
There are resources for educators who want to bone up on A.I. in a hurry.
—Kevin Roose, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2023
The frames still manage to feel highly composed, as if the actors have been blocked to within an inch of their lives; Glazer has clearly boned up on his Haneke.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 May 2023
Time to bone up on your history, folks.
—Meirav Devash, Allure, 28 Sep. 2022
Part of that push comes in free trainings the group has offered for hundreds of Democratic campaign staff to bone up on digital best practices, paid fellowships for young digital staffers and $150,000 in digital ad-training grants for organizations based in battleground states.
—Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 25 Aug. 2022
And in her own unique way, she's been training for this moment — working as a guidance counselor for 20 years to become an expert in reading people, teaching Driver's Ed at the high school to learn pit maneuvers, and volunteering at the computer lab to bone up on complex data research.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 20 July 2022
If the win is closing the sale, bone up on your sales closing techniques.
—George Bradt, Forbes, 5 July 2022
And while many of these dinosaurs may never have occupied the same era, the same time period or even the same location, their appearance together on the silver screen may be a perfect chance to bone up on the taxonomy of the giant animals.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 9 June 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bone up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1873, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near bone up
Cite this Entry
“Bone up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bone%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2023.
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