boner
boner Lexical Profile
boner Game Scores & Validity
• noun
(vulgar slang) An erection of the penis.
"The teen comedy relied heavily on crude jokes and awkward adolescent situations."
North American (dated, informal) A stupid, clumsy, or embarrassing mistake; a blunder.
"The shortstop pulled a costly boner in the ninth inning by throwing the ball to the wrong base."
A worker in a meatpacking plant, butcher shop, or fishmonger's who removes bones from meat or fish, or a knife designed for this task.
"An experienced boner in the processing facility can cleanly separate a side of beef in just a few minutes."
Word Nuance & Usage
Although historically used in early-to-mid 20th-century American English as innocent slang for a foolish mistake or blunder, 'boner' is now predominantly understood as vulgar slang for an erection and is therefore generally avoided in polite or formal contexts.
• Rhymes for boner
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the early 20th century in American baseball slang to mean a stupid mistake (likely shortened from 'bonehead play'), with the anatomical slang sense emerging around the mid-20th century from 'bone'.