Bones

A monetary term that stands for dollars; amount of bones equals the amount of dollars, e.g., 5 bones equals 5 dollars; may also appear as "bone" for a single dollar; similar to scratch, paper, and dough.

When someone says they have put together the bones of something, it means they have finished creating the basic structure of that thing. For example, a writer who says they've assembled the bones of their next article may have compiled notes and finalized an outline, giving them a structure from which to begin writing the article.

Used this way, bones is an allusion to the human skeleton's underlying support of the human body. Writers and other professionals may use the word skeleton in the same way they use the word bones - to refer to the basic structure underlying a complex project.