an anvil; an incus (bone in inner ear)

shape

flint (stone) / grindstone / whetstone / anvil / model or standard (of excellence)

bone

he / distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that / boyfriend

to research, to study

a piece of research, a study, investigation

distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon / particularly, male personal third person pronoun: he / by extension from he: boyfriend

he; boyfriend

researcher