bare bones

bare bones

pl.n. Informal

The basic elements or essentials: outlined the bare bones of the proposal.

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bare-bones (bârbnz) adj.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

bare bones - (plural) the most basic facts or elements; "he told us only the bare bones of the story" essence, heart and soul, inwardness, nitty-gritty, pith, substance, gist, kernel, nub, meat, core, sum, marrow, heart, center, centre - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story" plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech