Understanding Working Hard Idioms, Sayings, Phrases, And Expressions

Idioms on hard work inject our language with a sense of determination, drive, and perseverance, coloring conversations with the vivid hues of effort and ambition. They capture the grit and resilience needed to push through challenges, often evoking feelings of endurance, commitment, and tenacity.

Prepare to dive into a collection of working hard idioms and expressions, each one crafted with its own robust meaning, intriguing origins, synonyms, and example sentences.

Whether you’re drawn to expressions like “burn the midnight oil” or eager to explore the diligence implied in “put your nose to the grindstone,” this guide will help you enrich your vocabulary with phrases that embody the essence of hard work and relentless effort.

Perfect for language enthusiasts, writers, or anyone seeking to add a touch of industriousness to their speech, our compilation of working hard idioms and expressions will bring vigor and determination to your conversations.

Get ready to roll up your sleeves and dig into the rich terrain of working hard idioms and expressions, and uncover the fascinating stories and cultural roots that infuse these phrases with the spirit of perseverance that fuels our everyday language!

Common Hard Work Idioms – Meaning, Origin, and Example Sentence

Burn The Midnight Oil

Synonym: Work Late
Meaning: To work late into the night, usually to meet a deadline or complete a project.
Origin: This phrase dates back to the 17th century when people used oil lamps for light. “Midnight oil” refers to burning oil in a lamp late at night to continue working.
Example Sentence: She had to burn the midnight oil to finish her presentation on time for tomorrow’s meeting.

Go The Extra Mile

Synonym: Exceed Expectations
Meaning: To put in additional effort beyond what is expected to achieve something.
Origin: This expression comes from the Bible, specifically Matthew 5:41, which suggests going beyond what is asked of you.
Example Sentence: He always goes the extra mile to ensure his clients are satisfied.

Pull One’s Weight

Synonym: Contribute Fairly
Meaning: To do one’s fair share of work in a group or team effort.
Origin: This idiom originated in the early 19th century from rowing teams, where each rower was expected to pull their weight for the team to succeed.
Example Sentence: Everyone in the group must pull their weight to for the event to be a success.

Work Like A Dog

Synonym: Labor Intensively
Meaning: To work very hard, often for long hours and with little rest.
Origin: This phrase comes from the early 18th century, referring to the hard work that dogs, such as working dogs on farms, would perform.
Example Sentence: He’s been working like a dog to to save enough money for a down payment on a house.

Break Your Back

Synonym: Exert Oneself
Meaning: To work very hard physically or mentally.
Origin: The expression has been in use since the 19th century, metaphorically suggesting the extreme physical effort of breaking one’s back.
Example Sentence: They broke their backs to make the get the product samples to the client before the competitor.

Hit The Ground Running

Synonym: Start Quickly
Meaning: To begin a task or job with immediate enthusiasm and energy.
Origin: The phrase originated in the mid-20th century and is believed to have military roots, referring to soldiers landing from an aircraft and starting to move or work immediately.
Example Sentence: She hit the ground running in her new role, impressing everyone with her energy.

Burn The Candle At Both Ends

Synonym: Overwork
Meaning: To overextend oneself by doing too many things, leading to exhaustion.
Origin: This phrase dates back to the 17th century and refers to burning a candle from both ends, using it up quickly.
Example Sentence: He’s burning the candle at both ends with his job and going to night classes.

Keep Your Nose To The Grindstone

Synonym: Stay Focused
Meaning: To continue working hard and steadily on something without distractions.
Origin: This phrase shares its origin with “put your nose to the grindstone,” emerging in the 16th century with similar connotations of focused labor.
Example Sentence: She kept her nose to the grindstone, impressed the managers, and eventually got the promotion.

Put In The Hard Yards

Synonym: Work Diligently
Meaning: To put in significant effort and work hard, especially over time.
Origin: The phrase is believed to have originated in sports, particularly rugby, where “yards” refer to gaining ground through hard effort.
Example Sentence: If you want to succeed in this difficult field, you have to put in the hard yards.

Blood, Sweat, And Tears

Synonym: Great Effort
Meaning: Intense effort and perseverance to achieve something.
Origin: Popularized by Winston Churchill in 1940 during a speech, the phrase has earlier origins but became widely used to describe dedication and hard work.
Example Sentence: It took blood, sweat, and tears for over ten years to build this company from the ground up.

Move Heaven And Earth

Synonym: Make Great Effort
Meaning: To do everything possible to achieve something.
Origin: The phrase dates back to the 19th century and is often used to express determination.
Example Sentence: She would move heaven and earth to get her son into that Harvard.

Knuckle Down

Synonym: Focus
Meaning: To begin to work hard, especially after a period of not working seriously.
Origin: This expression originated in the 18th century and comes from the game of marbles, where “knuckling down” refers to getting ready to take a shot.
Example Sentence: It’s time to knuckle down and finish the project before this year’s deadline.

Give It Your Best Shot

Synonym: Try Hard
Meaning: To put maximum effort into doing something, even if success is uncertain.
Origin: This expression comes from shooting sports, where taking your “best shot” means trying your hardest. It has been in use since the early 20th century.
Example Sentence: Even if you don’t know all the answers, you should at least give it your best shot.

Sweat It Out

Synonym: Endure
Meaning: To work hard under pressure or to wait nervously for something.
Origin: This expression originated in the mid-20th century and is often used in contexts where someone must persevere through difficulty.
Example Sentence: They had to sweat it out during the intense negotiations, but they ultimately won the job.

Put Your Back Into It

Synonym: Work Hard
Meaning: To put a lot of effort into doing something physically demanding.
Origin: This phrase has been in use since the 19th century and relates to the physical act of using one’s back muscles in hard labor.
Example Sentence: If you want to finish digging this hole today, you’ll need to put your back into it.

Buckle Down

Synonym: Get Serious
Meaning: To start working hard and seriously on a task.
Origin: This phrase comes from the 19th century and is thought to be related to the idea of “buckling” a belt to prepare for hard work.
Example Sentence: It’s time to buckle down and prepare for the final exams.

Hustle And Bustle

Synonym: Work Actively
Meaning: A busy and energetic activity, especially in work or daily life.
Origin: The phrase dates back to the 17th century, originally meaning to shake or toss about. By the 19th century, it took on its modern sense of busy, active work.
Example Sentence: The hustle and bustle of the city can be exhausting, but it’s usually a sign of success.

Leave No Stone Unturned

Synonym: Be Thorough
Meaning: To search exhaustively or to make every possible effort to achieve something.
Origin: The phrase is believed to have originated from ancient Greece, attributed to the oracle of Delphi when advising to search for treasure.
Example Sentence: The detective left no stone unturned in his quest to find the missing person.

Drive Yourself Into The Ground

Synonym: Overwork
Meaning: To work so hard that one becomes exhausted or physically and mentally drained.
Origin: The expression has been in use since the 20th century and reflects the idea of driving something forcefully until it collapses or is buried.
Example Sentence: She drove herself into the ground preparing for the presentation to the CEO.

Bend Over Backwards

Synonym: Make Great Efforts
Meaning: To go to great lengths to help someone or to accomplish something.
Origin: This expression likely originated in the early 20th century, suggesting a person is willing to contort themselves, metaphorically, to achieve a goal.
Example Sentence: The customer service team bent over backwards to ensure the client was happy.

Plug Away

Synonym: Persist
Meaning: To continue working steadily and persistently, especially on something challenging or monotonous.
Origin: The phrase is believed to have been in use since the 19th century in America, meaning to keep going despite difficulty.
Example Sentence: He kept plugging away at the math problems until he understood them.

Work One’s Fingers To The Bone

Synonym: Labor Hard
Meaning: To work extremely hard, often to the point of physical pain or exhaustion.
Origin: This phrase is believed to have originated in the early 19th century, referring to the physical toil of manual labor.
Example Sentence: She worked her fingers to the bone to provide for her family.

Put In A Good Shift

Synonym: Work Efficiently
Meaning: To work diligently and productively during a work period.
Origin: The term “shift” refers to a work period and has been used in labor contexts since the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.
Example Sentence: He put in a good shift at the factory yesterday.

Bust A Gut

Synonym: Strain Oneself
Meaning: To put in a tremendous amount of effort to achieve something.
Origin: The phrase became popular in the 20th century, particularly in American English, suggesting a physical strain similar to hernias from overexertion.
Example Sentence: She busted a gut to make sure everything was perfect for the launch.

Give It Your All

Synonym: Try Hard
Meaning: To put all one’s effort and energy into a task or goal.
Origin: The phrase has been in use since the early 20th century to express total commitment.
Example Sentence: He gave it his all during the final football game of the season.

Dig In

Synonym: Persevere
Meaning: To commit oneself fully to a task and persist with it.
Origin: The phrase comes from military slang during World War I, referring to soldiers digging trenches to hold their ground.
Example Sentence: The team had to dig in to get through the busy Christmas season.

Roll Up Your Sleeves

Synonym: Prepare To Work
Meaning: To prepare for hard work, often by getting ready to do physical or difficult tasks.
Origin: This expression dates back to the 19th century when rolling up one’s sleeves was necessary for manual labor.
Example Sentence: It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get this project started.

School Of Hard Knocks

Synonym: Life lessons, Real-world experience
Meaning: This idiom refers to the tough experiences and hardships someone goes through in life, which teach them valuable lessons that can’t be learned in a traditional classroom setting.
Origin: The idiom “school of hard knocks” originated in the United States in the late 19th century. It was first recorded in 1870 and became popular as a way to describe the kind of education one receives from life’s difficulties, rather than through formal schooling.
Example Sentence: After years of struggling to build his career, Mark often says he earned his degree from the school of hard knocks.