throw (someone) a bone
idiom
informal
: to offer (someone) something that is not very important or valuable especially to stop complaints or protests
The boss would not let his workers out early for the holiday but threw them a bone by buying lunch.
Examples of throw (someone) a bone in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The political juxtaposition may throw a bone to the other side, signaling a different political mood among network television audiences during Trump's second term.
—
Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 23 July 2025
Yet the Trump administration attempted to throw a bone to chemical manufacturers and water utilities by delaying the agency’s deadline to reduce PFOS and PFOA in tap water until 2031, and by gutting limits on four other versions of forever chemicals.
—Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025
Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Clive Mason - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Each team got to design its own intro stint, and McLaren chose to throw a bone to the graybeards with some old cars.
—Ars Technica, 19 Feb. 2025
Among a group of influential men – law professors – at a dinner party one evening was a Communist Party member brainstorming how to throw a bone to pro-democracy activists.
—Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2024
Hollywood has been known to throw a bone to actresses who really go for it and throw convention out the window, and in that vein, Adams and her fellow thespians have plenty to chew on.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2024
Suspending her was just a way to throw a bone to his supporters and get more media attention.
—Tori Otten, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2023
If this movie is about heavenly reward for men who were deprived of their big-league dreams, why didn’t the script writer throw a bone to Black players?
—J.d. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Aug. 2021
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Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 23 July 2025
Yet the Trump administration attempted to throw a bone to chemical manufacturers and water utilities by delaying the agency’s deadline to reduce PFOS and PFOA in tap water until 2031, and by gutting limits on four other versions of forever chemicals.
—Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025
Bryn Lennon - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Clive Mason - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Each team got to design its own intro stint, and McLaren chose to throw a bone to the graybeards with some old cars.
—Ars Technica, 19 Feb. 2025
Among a group of influential men – law professors – at a dinner party one evening was a Communist Party member brainstorming how to throw a bone to pro-democracy activists.
—Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2024
Hollywood has been known to throw a bone to actresses who really go for it and throw convention out the window, and in that vein, Adams and her fellow thespians have plenty to chew on.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2024
Suspending her was just a way to throw a bone to his supporters and get more media attention.
—Tori Otten, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2023
If this movie is about heavenly reward for men who were deprived of their big-league dreams, why didn’t the script writer throw a bone to Black players?
—J.d. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Aug. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Throw (someone) a bone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/throw%20%28someone%29%20a%20bone. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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