cut to the bone
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Their budget has been cut to the bone, and they are unable to perform many responsibilities that are vital to the national interest."
From Salon • Dec. 26, 2022
Local staffs were cut to the bone and syndicated content and infomercials began to fill the broadcast day.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2022
However, more than half of our state’s dailies are now ghost newspapers, with newsrooms that have been cut to the bone by hedge funds.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 8, 2021
What you couldn’t eliminate, you attempted to cut to the bone.
From Slate • Nov. 7, 2020
So quiet that in the previous year’s race against California he’d rowed the whole two miles with his thumb cut to the bone and never mentioned it to anyone.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
![]()
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.