in one's bones
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.05 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
(of a feeling, belief, etc.) Derived from instinct, intuition, or an ingrained inclination.
prep_phrase
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, one's, bones: especially, referring to rheumatic aches sensitive to atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity.
Example Sentences
- "He understood in his bones that the odds were not in his favor."
- "She could feel the rhythm in her bones."
- "I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones Enough to make my system blow"
- "As his aging hands became increasingly arthritic, he would often tell us that he could feel it in his bones when a snowstorm was coming."
Etymology
The figurative sense has a linguistic life of its own as a metaphor comparable with others such as at the heart of it all, but it is also related to the literal theme that people with rheumatism can feel weather changes in their bones and joints.