cut to the bone

cut to the bone (third-person singular simple present cuts to the bone, present participle cutting to the bone, simple past and past participle cut to the bone)

1. To reduce to the furthest extent possible, down to the bare essentials.

   Due to budget constraints, the company had to cut its expenses to the bone.

• “cut to the bone”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “cut to the bone”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “cut something to the bone”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “cut something to the bone” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.