boneyard

English

Etymology

From bone +‎ yard.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

boneyard (plural boneyards)

1. (informal) A graveyard.
2. (dominoes) In the game of dominoes, the pile of upside-down pieces that have yet to be used.
3. (aviation, automotive, slang) A dumpsite for obsolete or unusable aircraft etc; a junkyard.

   B-52s in a boneyard

   a 440 V-8 from the boneyard

   • 1951 April, R. S. McNaught, “Railway Enthusiasts”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 269:

     Or what is conveyed to those unversed in railway matters by reports following a shed visit that "the frame of Claud Hamilton lay in the boneyard and had many endearing messages of farewell chalked on it"?

   • 1999, Naval Aviation News, volumes 82-83, page 37:

     The “Boneyard” is a place of antiques and historic symbolism, a burial ground for aircraft.

   • 2017, William A. Flanagan, Aviation Records in the Jet Age:

     Beginning in December 1969, the entire fleet was retired to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.

Synonyms

• (graveyard): see also Thesaurus:cemetery.
• (dumpsite for aircraft): aircraft graveyard

Derived terms

• boneyard sale