Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

raw-head and bloody-bones

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English

Syllables: raw--head- and blood-y-bones
IPA

37

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

6

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A malicious bogeyman (or two bogeymen) formerly used to frighten children into good behaviour.

Example Sentences

"In his New View of London (1708), Hatton assures us that hackney coachmen in the City were wont to swear "by Gog and Magog" [...] Some apprentices, he tells us, were as "frighted at the names of Gog and Magog as little children are at the terrible sound of Raw-head and Bloody-bones"[.]"

Questions

What does raw-head and bloody-bones mean?: A malicious bogeyman (or two bogeymen) formerly used to frighten children into good behaviour.

How to pronounce raw-head and bloody-bones

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “raw-head and bloody-bones”.
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