jawbone

1 of 2

noun

jaw·​bone ˈjȯ-ˌbōn How to pronounce jawbone (audio)
: jaw sense 1a
especially : mandible

jawbone

2 of 2

verb

jawboned; jawboning; jawbones

transitive verb

: to speak forcefully and persuasively to
jawboned them into accepting the deal

intransitive verb

: to talk especially forcefully and persuasively
jawboning about the tax cuts

Examples of jawbone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
In essence, the doctors said, much of her lower jaw had been literally pulverized, her teeth and jawbone shattered like glass into hundreds of tiny rice-sized pieces. Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2024 But as the jawbone healed, perhaps in three, four, five months, Tashay later could be fitted with a partial denture. Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 4 Feb. 2024 Betts took photos of the jawbone remains and searched for similar images on Google before consulting with others to determine if the remains belonged to a pig. Brittany Kasko, Fox News, 22 Jan. 2024 Today, depictions of whales adorn village buildings, posters on school walls outline subsistence seasons, and baleen and jawbones lie outside the houses. Alena Naiden, Anchorage Daily News, 3 June 2023 When Rudolf and his children go swimming in a river, the commandant stumbles onto a human jawbone—a macabre find that prompts him to hurry home for a bath. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024 And even a dental device, used on patients without FDA review, that lawsuits alleged has caused catastrophic harm to teeth and jawbones. Fred Schulte, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2023 Law enforcement and volunteers from Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit search and recovery organization, conducted additional searches of the woods in the days after Paige’s remains were discovered and recovered a human jawbone and rib bone. Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 7 Sep. 2023 The plaintiffs allege that instead of expanding their jawbones, the AGGA left them with damaged gums, loose teeth, and eroded bone. CBS News, 15 Mar. 2023
Verb
Testimony can be expected as well from the two top Michigan state lawmakers who were summoned to the White House and jawboned to change the Michigan electors. Time, 14 Aug. 2023 Judge Terry Doughty ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in proving that a bombardment of takedown requests by emails and calls from White House and federal agency officials forced the social media companies’ hands, amounting to a practice known as jawboning. WIRED, 24 July 2023 Except, that is, for eight exceptions in which the feds may jawbone away. Rob Pegoraro, The New Republic, 7 July 2023 Once known for jawboning the Saudis to pump more oil and thereby lower the price, the president now finds himself in the uncomfortable position of trying to raise oil prices so US energy companies can earn a profit. Jacob Bogage, BostonGlobe.com, 1 Apr. 2020 Before the 2018 midterm elections, when the price of gasoline was rising to nearly $3 per gallon, Trump jawboned Saudi Arabia to boost its production to get prices down. Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2020 In the months following the first tidings of COVID-19 from China, Trump played down its potential impact—attempting to jawbone a virus, or at least the perception of it. Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2020 Investors should by now be wise to jawboning from the White House. Charles Riley, CNN, 8 Dec. 2019 Former mayor Tom Menino tried to jawbone Partners HealthCare into consolidating its offices there at one point. BostonGlobe.com, 19 Oct. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jawbone.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1965, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of jawbone was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near jawbone

Cite this Entry

“Jawbone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jawbone. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

jawbone

noun
jaw·​bone
ˈjȯ-ˈbōn,
-ˌbōn
: one of the bones of an animal's jaw
especially : mandible sense 1a

Medical Definition

jawbone

noun
: jaw sense 1
especially : mandible

More from Merriam-Webster on jawbone

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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