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bred-in-the-bone

[ bred-n-thuh-bohn ]

adjective

  1. firmly instilled or established as if by heredity:

    the bred-in-the-bone integrity of the school's headmaster.

  2. deeply committed or resolved; unwavering:

    a bred-in-the-bone believer in civil rights.



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Word History and Origins

Origin of bred-in-the-bone1

First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English; from the proverb “What is bred in the bone will not come out of the flesh,” first recorded in England (in Latin ) circa 1290, and widespread in various versions
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Example Sentences

Theodore Roosevelt was a thoroughgoing, bred-in-the-bone individualist, but not as the term is ordinarily understood.

But one can never reckon with real, bred-in-the-bone old-maidism.

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