Definition

1. Noun:
   • Bones; a handful of bones: Refers literally to the skeletal remains of a deceased person or animal. It emphasizes the physical, often dry, bones.
   • A mere skeleton; a wisp of a person: Used figuratively to describe a living person who is extremely thin, frail, or emaciated, as if they are nothing but skin and bones.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Sau nhiều năm, trong mộ chỉ còn lại một nắm xương. (After many years, only a handful of bones remained in the grave.)
  • Căn bệnh khiến ông ấy chỉ còn là một nắm xương. (The illness left him as nothing but a bag of bones.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in literary or emotional contexts to evoke pity, sadness, or the stark reality of death and extreme frailty.

Variants and Related Words

• Bộ xương (n): skeleton.
  • Bảo tàng trưng bày một bộ xương khủng long. (The museum displays a dinosaur skeleton.)

Synonyms

• Skeletal remains: The bones of a dead body.
• Skin and bones: An idiom describing a very thin person.

Related Idioms

• Da bọc xương: (lit. skin wrapping bone) an idiom meaning extremely thin, emaciated.
  • Cô ấy ốm đến mức da bọc xương. (She is so ill she's just skin and bones.)

noun

1. bones ; repains