breed in the bone

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

breed in the bone (third-person singular simple present breeds in the bone, present participle breeding in the bone, simple past and past participle bred in the bone)

1. (idiomatic, of a habit, personal characteristic, etc.) To establish or ingrain firmly within someone's nature.
   • 1825, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 30, in The Betrothed:

     "And for thy ill tongue, and worse practices, his lordship knows they are bred in the bone of thee."

   • 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 19, in Uncle Tom's Cabin:

     "My father was a born aristocrat. I think, in some preexistent state, he must have been in the higher circles of spirits, and brought all his old court pride along with him; for it was ingrain, bred in the bone, though he was originally of poor and not in any way of noble family."

   • 1985 December 8, “Books: Robertson Davies returns to a familiar, fulfilling venue”, in Chicago Tribune, retrieved 12 July 2011, page I33:

     Davies meticulously establishes the background, the breeding in the bone, of his hero's life.

   • 1998 May 29, Chris Darke, “Film: Famiglia feelings”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 12 July 2011:

     The distinctiveness of Bellocchio's approach lay in his taking mental affliction, in this case epilepsy, and figuring it as symbolic of the self-immolating rage and frustration that the dysfunctional family breeds in the bone.

   • 2008 August 13, James Graff, “Russia: In Search Of Unity”, in Time:

     One principle ought to be bred in the bone of any European after the carnage of the 20th century: that no act of state bears such ominous consequences as changing a border by force.

Usage notes

• Usually found in the past participial form, bred in the bone, and often hyphenated when used as a modifier: bred-in-the-bone.

Derived terms

• bred-in-the-bone

References

• “bred in the bone”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.