3 N‑COUNT A bond between people or groups is a close connection that they have with each other, for example because they have a special agreement. □ [+ between ] …the strong bond between church and nation. □ [+ with ] …her political bond with the American president.
4 N‑COUNT A bond between two things is the way in which they stick to one another or are joined in some way. □ The superglue may not create a bond with some plastics.
5 VERB When one thing bonds with another, it sticks to it or becomes joined to it in some way. You can also say that two things bond together , or that something bonds them together . □ [V + with ] Diamond may be strong in itself, but it does not bond well with other materials. □ [V with together ] In graphite sheets, carbon atoms bond together in rings. □ [be V -ed + together ] Strips of wood are bonded together and moulded by machine. [Also V n + with ]
6 N‑COUNT When a government or company issues a bond , it borrows money from investors. The certificate which is issued to investors who lend money is also called a bond . [BUSINESS ] □ Most of it will be financed by government bonds. □ …the recent sharp decline in bond prices.
7 → see also junk bond , premium bond COLLOCATIONS bond NOUN 1
adjective + bond : close, special, strong, unbreakable; common
verb + bond : create, forge, form; cement, strengthen
bond|age /bɒ nd I dʒ/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Bondage is the condition of being someone's property and having to work for them. □ Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Bondage is the condition of not being free because you are strongly influenced by something or someone. [FORMAL ] □ [+ to ] All people, she said, lived their lives in bondage to hunger, pain and lust.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Bondage is the practice of being tied up or tying your partner up in order to gain sexual pleasure.
bond|ed /bɒ nd I d/ ADJ A bonded company has entered into a legal agreement which offers its customers some protection if the company does not fulfil its contract with them. [BUSINESS ] □ The company is a fully bonded member of the Association of British Travel Agents.
bond|holder /bɒ ndhoʊldə r / (bondholders ) also bond holder N‑COUNT A bondholder is a person who owns one or more investment bonds. [BUSINESS ]
bone ◆◇◇ /boʊ n/ (bones , boning , boned )
1 N‑VAR Your bones are the hard parts inside your body which together form your skeleton. □ Many passengers suffered broken bones. □ Stephen fractured a thigh bone. □ The body is made up primarily of bone, muscle, and fat. □ She scooped the chicken bones back into the stewpot.
2 VERB If you bone a piece of meat or fish, you remove the bones from it before cooking it. □ [V n] Make sure that you do not pierce the skin when boning the chicken thighs.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A bone tool or ornament is made of bone. □ …a small, expensive pocketknife with a bone handle.
4 → see also marrow bone , T-bone steak
5 PHRASE The bare bones of something are its most basic parts or details. □ There are not even the bare bones of a garden here–I've got nothing.
6 PHRASE If something is too close to the bone , it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is very close to the truth or to the real nature of something.
7 PHRASE If you make no bones about something, you talk openly about it, rather than trying to keep it a secret. □ Some of them make no bones about their political views.
8 PHRASE If you make no bones about doing something that is unpleasant or difficult or that might upset someone else, you do it without hesitating. □ [+ about ] He makes no bones about being on a revenge mission.
9 PHRASE If something such as costs are cut to the bone , they are reduced to the minimum possible. □ It has survived by cutting its costs to the bone. □ Profit margins have been slashed to the bone in an attempt to keep turnover moving.
10 PHRASE You use to the bone to indicate that you are very deeply affected by something. For example, if you feel chilled to the bone , your whole body feels extremely cold, often because you have had a shock. □ What I saw chilled me to the bone.
bo ne chi |na N‑UNCOUNT Bone china is a kind of thin china that contains powdered bone.
-boned /-boʊnd/ COMB -boned combines with adjectives such as 'big' and 'fine' to form adjectives which describe a person as having a particular type of bone structure or build. □ He was about seven years old, small and fine-boned like his mother.
bo ne dry also bone-dry ADJ If you say that something is bone dry , you are emphasizing that it is very dry indeed. [EMPHASIS ] □ Now the river bed is bone dry.
bo ne mar|row N‑UNCOUNT Bone marrow is the soft fatty substance inside human or animal bones. □ There are 2,000 children worldwide who need a bone marrow transplant.
bo ne meal also bonemeal N‑UNCOUNT Bone meal is a substance made from animal bones which is used as a fertilizer.
bo ne of con|te n|tion (bones of contention ) N‑COUNT If a particular matter or issue is a bone of contention , it is the subject of a disagreement or argument. □ The main bone of contention is the temperature level of the air-conditioners.
bon|fire /bɒ nfa I ə r / (bonfires ) N‑COUNT A bonfire is a fire that is made outdoors, usually to burn rubbish. Bonfires are also sometimes lit as part of a celebration. □ With bonfires outlawed in urban areas, gardeners must cart their refuse to a dump. WORD HISTORY bonfire