cut to the bone

To stretch her legs, she had to leave a passenger door ajar, but September nights are raw in the Pacific Northwest, with sheets of rain that cut to the bone.

While the debt ceiling deal ostensibly "capped" all spending at 2023 levels for two years, nobody said that appropriations bills which had to be finished by September 30 couldn't be cut to the bone.

Scarred torsos, amputated limbs, wrists cut to the bone: These are the signatures of a man caught between genocide and the burdens of his fate.

White survived, but his wrists, cut to the bone, “required extensive medical care to rehabilitate the damaged and severed tendons.”

"Their budget has been cut to the bone, and they are unable to perform many responsibilities that are vital to the national interest."