हड्डी (haddii)

noun A concrete noun meaning 'bone' (haddii), with a common figurative extension for someone being extremely thin, and a life in several everyday idioms about hard work and stubbornness.

Sense 1 : bone (body part)

noun, feminine

Frequency: high

Cultural Note: हड्डी तोड़ देना (haddii tod denaa, to break someone's bones) is a common threat/warning heard from angry parents or in Bollywood scuffles, said half in jest more often than literally -- it is the Hindi equivalent of 'I'll break every bone in your body.'

Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes treat हड्डी (haddii) as invariant like some other body-part-adjacent words, but it inflects as a regular feminine ी-ending noun (हड्डियाँ haddiyaan in the plural, हड्डियों haddiyon in the oblique plural) -- worth watching for since bone counts often come up in the plural (e.g. 'ribs').

Sample Sentences:

गिरने से मेरी हड्डी टूट गई। My bone broke because of the fall.

(girne se merii haddii toot gaii।)

डॉक्टर ने एक्स-रे में देखा कि हड्डी में दरार है। The doctor saw in the X-ray that there is a crack in the bone.

(doktar ne eks-re men dekhaa ki haddii men daraar hai।)

अगर तूने फिर शोर मचाया तो मैं तेरी हड्डी तोड़ दूँगा। If you make a racket again, I'll break your bones.

(agar toone phir shor machaayaa to main terii haddii tod doongaa।)

बचपन में हड्डियाँ जल्दी जुड़ जाती हैं। In childhood, bones heal quickly.

(bachpan men haddiyaan jaldii jud jaatii hain।)

अगर तुम रोज़ इतनी शरारत करते रहे, तो मैं तुम्हारी हड्डी तोड़ दूँगी, समझे? If you keep up this much mischief every day, I'll break your bones, understand?

(agar tum roz itnii sharaarat karte rahe, to main tumhaarii haddii tod doongii, samjhe?)

सर्जरी के दौरान टूटी हुई हड्डी को प्लेट से जोड़ा गया। During the surgery, the broken bone was joined with a plate.

(sarjrii ke dauraan tootii huii haddii ko plet se jodaa gayaa।)

कुत्ता हड्डी चबाने में मशगूल था। The dog was busy chewing a bone.

(kuttaa haddii chabaane men mashgool thaa।)

कृपया मरीज़ की हड्डी को हिलाइए मत, दर्द बढ़ सकता है। Please do not move the patient's bone, the pain might increase.

(kripyaa mariiz kii haddii ko hilaaie mat, dard badh saktaa hai।)

यदि उसकी हड्डी उस समय ठीक से जुड़ती, तो वह अब तक पूरी तरह ठीक हो चुका होता। If his bone had healed properly at that time, he would have completely recovered by now.

(yadi uskii haddii us samay thiik se judtii, to vah ab tak poorii tarah thiik ho chukaa hotaa।)

मानव शरीर में लगभग दो सौ छब्बीस हड्डियाँ होती हैं। There are approximately two hundred and six bones in the human body.

(maanav shariir men lagbhag do sau chhabbiis haddiyaan hotii hain।)

उम्मीद है कि हड्डी बिना ऑपरेशन के ही ठीक हो जाए। Let's hope the bone heals without an operation.

(ummiid hai ki haddii binaa opreshan ke hii thiik ho jaae।)

Sense 2 : very thin, skin-and-bones (figurative)

noun, feminine Used predicatively in phrases like हड्डी ही हड्डी रह गई है (haddii hii haddii rah gaii hai, 'nothing but bones is left') or किसी का हड्डी-हड्डी होना (haddii-haddii honaa) to describe someone who has become alarmingly thin, often from illness or overwork.

Synonyms: हड्डियों का ढांचा (haddiyon kaa dhaanchaa, 'a frame of bones', descriptive phrase)

Frequency: medium

Cultural Note: A worried Indian grandmother seeing a grandchild return from hostel or a foreign trip might exclaim हड्डी-हड्डी हो गया है (haddii-haddii ho gayaa hai, 'he's become nothing but bones'), a very typical scene of loving over-concern about weight loss.

Common Mistakes: 1) This sense almost always appears with reduplication (हड्डी-हड्डी haddii-haddii) or in a fixed phrase rather than as a bare noun -- using हड्डी alone to mean 'thin person' will sound incomplete to a native ear.

Sample Sentences:

बेटा हॉस्टल से आया तो हड्डी-हड्डी हो गया था। When my son came back from the hostel, he had become nothing but skin and bones.

(betaa hostal se aayaa to haddii-haddii ho gayaa thaa।)

दादी बोलीं, तू तो हड्डी-हड्डी हो गया है, ठीक से खाना खाया कर। Grandma said, 'You've become a bag of bones, eat properly.'

(daadii boliin, too to haddii-haddii ho gayaa hai, thiik se khaanaa khaayaa kar।)

बीमारी के बाद वह इतना कमज़ोर हो गया है कि बस हड्डी ही हड्डी रह गई है। After the illness he's become so weak that he's just skin and bones now.

(biimaarii ke baad vah itnaa kamzor ho gayaa hai ki bas haddii hii haddii rah gaii hai।)

इतना डाइटिंग मत कर, वरना हड्डी-हड्डी हो जाएगी। Don't diet so much, or you'll turn into a bag of bones.

(itnaa daaiting mat kar, varnaa haddii-haddii ho jaaegii।)

अगर वह ठीक से खाता तो हड्डी-हड्डी न होता। If he had eaten properly, he wouldn't have become a bag of bones.

(agar vah thiik se khaataa to haddii-haddii n hotaa।)

फ़ोटो देखकर माँ चौंक गई, बच्ची तो हड्डी-हड्डी नज़र आ रही थी। Seeing the photo, the mother was startled -- the girl looked like a bag of bones.

(foto dekhkar maan chaunk gaii, bachchii to haddii-haddii nazar aa rahii thii।)

क्या हुआ तुझे, इतनी हड्डी-हड्डी क्यों दिख रही है? What happened to you, why do you look so skeletal?

(kyaa huaa tujhe, itnii haddii-haddii kyon dikh rahii hai?)

डॉक्टर ने कहा कि बच्चे का वज़न इतना कम है कि वह हड्डी-हड्डी दिखने लगा है। The doctor said the child's weight is so low that he has started looking like skin and bones.

(doktar ne kahaa ki bachche kaa vazan itnaa kam hai ki vah haddii-haddii dikhne lagaa hai।)

अरे, इतना काम मत कर, तू तो हड्डी-हड्डी हुआ जा रहा है। Hey, don't work so much, you're wasting away to nothing but bones.

(are, itnaa kaam mat kar, too to haddii-haddii huaa jaa rahaa hai।)

Sense 3 : stubbornness, toughness of character (figurative, idiomatic)

noun, feminine Lives mainly in the idiom हड्डियों में जान होना (haddiyon men jaan honaa, 'to have life/strength in one's bones', meaning to have inner grit or stamina despite appearances) and similar bones-as-seat-of-strength expressions.

Frequency: low

Cultural Note: Hindi frequently locates inner toughness or endurance in the bones rather than the heart or willpower, as English does -- an old laborer might be described as बूढ़ा है पर हड्डियों में अभी जान है (boodhaa hai par haddiyon men abhii jaan hai, 'he's old but there's still life in his bones'), praising quiet physical resilience.

Common Mistakes: 1) This meaning does not stand alone -- it only surfaces inside set phrases about strength or stubbornness residing 'in the bones,' so learners should not try to use हड्डी by itself to mean 'grit.'

Sample Sentences:

बूढ़ा है पर उसकी हड्डियों में अभी भी जान है। He's old, but there's still life in his bones.

(boodhaa hai par uskii haddiyon men abhii bhii jaan hai।)

इतनी मेहनत के बाद भी वह हार नहीं मानता, हड्डी का मजबूत है। Even after so much hard work he doesn't give up -- he's tough as nails.

(itnii mehnat ke baad bhii vah haar nahiin maantaa, haddii kaa majboot hai।)

उस औरत की हड्डियों में गजब की सहनशक्ति थी, कभी शिकायत नहीं की। That woman had extraordinary endurance in her bones -- she never once complained.

(us aurat kii haddiyon men gajab kii sahanshakti thii, kabhii shikaayat nahiin kii।)

अगर तुम्हारी हड्डियों में इतना दम होता, तो अब तक हार मान चुके होते। If you had that much grit in your bones, you would have given up by now -- but you haven't.

(agar tumhaarii haddiyon men itnaa dam hotaa, to ab tak haar maan chuke hote।)

कहते हैं कि पुरानी पीढ़ी की हड्डियों में जो मजबूती थी, वह अब कम मिलती है। They say the toughness that was in the old generation's bones is rarer to find now.

(kahte hain ki puraanii piidhii kii haddiyon men jo majbootii thii, vah ab kam miltii hai।)

बेटा, संघर्ष से मत डर, अपनी हड्डियों को मजबूत रख। Son, don't be afraid of struggle -- keep grit in your bones.

(betaa, sangharsh se mat dar, apnii haddiyon ko majboot rakh।)

मुझे लगता है उसकी हड्डियों में अभी भी वह पुरानी ताकत बची होगी। I think that old strength must still be left in his bones.

(mujhe lagtaa hai uskii haddiyon men abhii bhii vah puraanii taakat bachii hogii।)

कारखाने के उन मज़दूरों की हड्डियों में सालों की मेहनत ने गजब की सहनशीलता भर दी थी। Years of labor had filled those factory workers' bones with remarkable endurance.

(kaarkhaane ke un mazdooron kii haddiyon men saalon kii mehnat ne gajab kii sahanshiiltaa bhar dii thii।)

Morphology

Noun

(sg.f.direct): हड्डी (haddii)

(sg.f.oblique): हड्डी (haddii)

(pl.f.direct): हड्डियाँ (haddiyaan)

(pl.f.oblique): हड्डियों (haddiyon)