Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an erection.

1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 191: She caught me with a boner, dammit.
1978		R. Price Ladies’ Man (1985) 53: I immediately got one of those boners that start from the heart.
1986		S. King It (1987) 807: You liked it! You got a boner! Biggest boner I ever saw!
1992		A. Duff One Night Out Stealing 103: Grab her hand and shove it down on the old fulla [...] Feel that for a boner, babe.
1996		P. Howard The Joy (2015) [ebook] Me boner eased as I slipped the package between the gum and me cheek.
1999		R.G. Barrett Wind & Monkey (2013) [ebook] [H]e still had half a boner. Mr Wobbly was refusing to lay down.
1999		Indep. Rev. 1 Oct. 12: The goal of a porno movie should be to give you a boner.
2000		R.G. Barrett Leaving Bondi (2013) [ebook] Norton had a rock hard boner and Mr Wobbly was frothing at the mouth.
2004		C. Hiaasen Skinny Dip 157: Chaz was waiting [...] with a bottle of wine and a world-class boner.
2012		M. McBride Frank Sinatra in a Blender [ebook] We got a good look at each other in that unforgiving light and my boner died fast than a two-dollar watch battery.
2013		IOL Cape News 7 Oct. 🌐 What did this guy do when he saw this woman coming with a knife to his boner?
2013		K. Koke ‘Could Have Been’ 🎵 Jump on your mans dick, leave the boy alone ma. / Before I tell your man you've been looking for a boner.
2015		L. McInerney Glorious Heresies 53: My mouth pressed to the back of her neck, coasting a boner that just won’t go away.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] I was still able to pop a boner.
2017		Times Weekend Rev. 8 July 🌐 They have boners. They aren’t embarrassed. They cup, adjust. ‘I’ve got a semi on,’ they might say, conversationally.
2020		(con. 1991-94) W. Boyle City of Margins 31: Nick [...] nudges his boner under his waistband, hoping it’ll deflate.

2. the penis.

1987		‘Victoria Parker’ Pay for Play Cheerleaders 🌐 Well, okay then. I’ll play with your boner, Mr. Milton.
2001		Guardian G2 7 June 15: This man’s fractured his boner, you cock. He needs an urgent urology opinion.

3. (Aus.) of a man, one who has sexual intercourse; thus mad boner, an especially keen fucker n. (1)

1993

B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 52: boner 2. (literal) a fucker, one who fucks or bones someone.

4. (Aus.) a general term of abuse, on pattern of fucker n. (3)

1993

B. Moore Lex. of Cadet Lang. 53: you boner! non-specific term of abuse = ‘you fucker!’.

5. (US) in fig. use of sense 1, an obsession; a sense of excitement.

1999		J. Maple Crime Fighter 175: Cops get boners just thinking about acting as a decoy, wearing a wire, conducting a buy-and-bust [etc].
2004		J. Ellroy ‘Hot-Prowl Rape-O’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 314: I copped to all the big snuffs. You name it, I copped to it [...] It was my thing back in the old days, before I got this boner for skin.
2010		IOL News (SA) 27 Mar. 🌐 Rasdien allegedly told Wilson, ‘I’ve got a boner for you,’ as she walked past him.
2018		‘Aidan Truhen’ Price You Pay 170: Oh shit yeah boss now I have a chaos boner.