make (one’s) bones v. to kill a person as requirement for membership in a criminal gang, especially if it is one’s first murder; to become a made man; (hence) to earn a reputation. Editorial Note: This term is associated with organized crime, especially the Mafia or the mob. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Susie Dent’s murder mystery Guilty by Definition (Bookshop|Amazon) follows a lexicographer in Oxford who becomes a sleuth of a different kind, seeking the culprit in a long-unsolved killing. A lexicographer herself, Dent includes lots of obscure and...
Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There’s a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you’re a beekeeper, perhaps you call yourself a...