1.
boning; removing the bones
Taking the bones out of a fish or piece of meat in preparation for cooking or eating.
魚を骨抜きにする。
To bone a fish.
骨抜きの鶏肉を買ってきた。
I bought some boneless chicken.
子供が食べやすいように魚を骨抜きにした。
I boned the fish so the children could eat it easily.
2.
watering down; gutting (a plan or proposal)
Removing the essential or strongest content from a plan, bill, or proposal so that little of substance remains.
計画が骨抜きにされた。
The plan was gutted.
反対にあって法案は骨抜きになった。
Faced with opposition, the bill was watered down.
当初の改革案は議論の過程で骨抜きにされてしまった。
The original reform proposal ended up gutted in the course of debate.
Literally 'bone-pulling.' The figurative sense — removing the substance from a plan so only an empty shell remains — is the more common one in news and politics.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 骨抜きにする: to bone (fish); to gut (a proposal)
- 骨抜きになる: to be watered down
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 形骸化: becoming a dead letter — a rule losing real force, but through neglect rather than deliberate cutting
- なし崩し: gradual erosion — chipping away little by little