wishbone

Thân thiện

A child holds a wishbone after the family meal.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • The forked bone between the neck and breast of a bird, especially a chicken or turkey: This bone is formed by the fusion of the two clavicles. It is traditionally broken by two people, with the person holding the longer piece said to have a wish granted.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • After we finished eating the roast chicken, my sister and I pulled the wishbone.
  • The turkey's wishbone was removed before cooking to make carving easier.
  • He kept the dried wishbone on his desk for good luck.

Advanced Usage

• "To pull the wishbone": To engage in the tradition where two people each hold one side of the dried wishbone and pull until it breaks.
  • The children always argue over who gets to pull the wishbone with their grandfather after Thanksgiving dinner.

Variants and Related Words

• Furcula (n): The technical anatomical term for the wishbone, found in most birds.
  • In ornithology, the furcula acts as a spring during flight.

Synonyms

• Furcula: The scientific name for the bone.
• Merrythought (archaic, chiefly British): An older term for the wishbone.

Related Idioms

• "To get the longer end of the wishbone": To be the winner in the wishbone-pulling tradition, and by extension, to be the one who is granted good fortune or gets their way.
  • She got the longer end of the wishbone, so we're all expecting her wish for a promotion to come true.

Học thuật

Noun

1. the furcula of a domestic fowl

Từ đồng nghĩa

• wishing bone