boning

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: Senses 1 and 2 fr. 1st Bone, sense 3 fr. 3d Bone.

1. The clearing of bones from fish or meat.

2. The manuring of land with bones.

3. A method of leveling a line or surface by sighting along the tops of two or more straight edges, or a range of properly spaced poles. See 3d Bone, transitive verb

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54