make old bones

verb — 2 senses

make old bones

verb
1

Informal, In the negative To live to an old age.

  • With his heart condition, he'll never make old bones.
2

Informal, In the negative To last a long time; to last or store well.

  • It is a nice fruity wine, but it doesn't make old bones.
Related terms
not long for this world

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.