| 单词 | near the bone |
| 释义 | > as lemmasnear (also close to) the bone k. near (also close to) the bone. extracted from bonen.1 (a) Scottish. Of a person or his or her behaviour: parsimonious; miserly, stingy. attributive in quot. 1901. ΚΠ 1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 117 He's unco near the bane, wi' a' thing it he gees. 1901 Weekly Free Press & Aberdeen Herald 30 Mar. I hate yer near the bane wyes. 1904 Record (Emerald Hill, Victoria) 2 Apr. Farmer Wilson was rather near the bone, and kept his hinds on short commons. 1929 J. Milne Dreams o' Buchan 11 The folk o' Aiberdeen are a' byous near the been. 1985 Conc. Sc. Dict. 436/1 Near the bane, miserly. (b) Close to the minimum level or standard possible; esp. close to the limit of survival or subsistence; frequently in to live close to (also near) the bone: to live frugally or in poverty; to manage on the barest minimum. Cf. Phrases 1a(a)(iii). ΚΠ 1873 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sunday Sentinel 6 Apr. 6/2 He has had a hard time and has lived close to the bone. 1891 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 11 Sept. 3/5 The league schedule is getting close to the bone. 1919 Sydney Sportsman 9 Apr. 2/6 Aren't they running this Domestic Economy Stunt rather close to the bone? 1947 N. Cardus Autobiogr. 9 He declined, in a family which was always living close to the bone, to take on any job. 1990 P. Auster Music of Chance i. 18 He had always lived too close to the bone to think much about them, and once the novelty of the inheritance had worn off, he reverted to his old modest habits. 2001 Technol. Rev. Dec. 87/2 Undoubtedly, many companies, running close to the bone, couldn't afford to safely clone their archives in more than one place. (c) Close to an established limit with regard to behaviour or politeness; verging on indecency or offensiveness; (also) uncomfortably close to the truth. Cf. near the knuckle at knuckle n. 2b. ΚΠ 1929 Smith's Weekly (Sydney) 29 June 14 Getting rather near the bone. After all, there are some things you simply can't make jokes about. 1941 A. L. Rowse Tudor Cornwall xiii. 337 Charging him..with having ‘two harlots begotten with child in his own house’... This was getting pretty near the bone. 1980 Canberra Times 3 May 13/6 It is an utterly gripping story, but..too close to the bone, and too lacking in light relief. 2013 Daily Tel. 11 June 20/4 The self-mocking has to be close to the bone, it has to hurt, or it doesn't work. < as lemmas |
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