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Glite Dictionary
wishbone

wishbone

14 5.6
A forked bone in a chicken's chest that children pull to make wishes
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪʃˌboʊn/
translation icon : hueso de la suerte
  • After dinner, we all took turns pulling on the wishbone for good luck.
  • split the wishbone
  • break the wishbone
  • wish on the wishbone

For Thanksgiving this year, we glued the Turkey wishbone to the top of the gingerbread house and it was ominous.

Examples

  • I want the wishbone.

    Strange Magic (2015)

  • Bertie was thin as a wishbone, her hair twisted back in a bun.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • - I saved you the wishbone.

    Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)

  • And then run my fingers off that wishbone where it meets the the breast and just pull it out.

  • Do you think I could have the wishbone, Mr. Conroy?

    The Dead (1987)

  • Now, as you can see, they're running a standard wishbone.

    The Longest Yard (2005)

  • The shotgun read offense is built on wishbone principles in that you don't block one guy and you read him.

    Blog text (10)

  • You can be a spread team, I-formation team, power team, wing-T team, option team, or wishbone team.

    Blog text (34)

  • For Thanksgiving this year, we glued the Turkey wishbone to the top of the gingerbread house and it was ominous.

    Brittany Broski

  • Will was carving the goose, and Snow was tempting Mike to pull the wishbone, but he was looking over her head at his mother, listening intently.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

wishing bone
vswishbone
  • Literature
1 8.9

A forked bone from a chicken or turkey pulled for luck

is the neutral anatomical term without the luck tradition
furcula
vswishbone
  • Specialized
9.9

Two collar bones join to form a small V-shaped bone that helps birds fly

is the everyday common name rather than the technical anatomical term

Surface Forms

wishbone singular
wishbones plural

Morphology

wishbone = wish + bone (transparent) = wish + bone

The word is a straightforward compound of 'wish' and 'bone' referring to the bone used in the ritual of making wishes, so learners can infer its meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Wishbone is simply wish + bone. People used to break the small forked bone from a bird while each person made a 'wish', and the one with the larger piece was thought to have their wish come true, so the name now means the little forked bone in birds.