boneyard

noun

ˈbōn-ˌyärd How to pronounce boneyard (audio)
Definition of boneyardnext
as in cemetery
a piece of land used for burying the dead a once-notorious gunslinger who now lies in the forlorn boneyard of an Old West ghost town

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of boneyard Visitors can also participate in boneyard games, a dig site and the Dinos after Dark event. — Alyson Rodriguez, Dallas Morning News, 25 Feb. 2026 Many fire engines are mothballed in city boneyards, and the department has lost nearly 50 more firefighters since the Palisades fire. — Teresa Liu, Daily News, 4 May 2026 The state’s political boneyard has a number of Lake County candidates residing there. — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2025 Nigerian Airlines Brings 747 Back From the Boneyard The Nigerian airline Max Air recently returned a Boeing 747-400 to active service after it was exiled to an aircraft boneyard thousands of miles away. — Michael Goldstein, Forbes.com, 1 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for boneyard
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boneyard
  1. cemetery
  2. graveyard
Noun
  • A couple of miles from the cemetery, a large group had gathered outside a small house for a holiday weekend cookout.
    — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Khomeini’s funeral saw chaotic scenes as millions thronged his mourning ceremony and trip to the cemetery.
    — Nasser Karimi, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
Definition of cemetery
Noun
  • Most of the victims were buried in a local graveyard, while some families planned to take the bodies to their native towns for burial.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
  • In this year’s ballot measure graveyard lies the competing measures introduced by Uber and Consumer Attorneys of California, both of which were dropped after last-minute negotiations.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of graveyard

Browse Nearby Words

bone (up)
boneyard
boneyards
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Boneyard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boneyard. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All