earn one's stripes
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Gain a position through hard work and accumulated experience. For example, She'd earned her stripes by serving for years as the governor's secretary and personal aide. This expression alludes to a military promotion or award, indicated by strips of chevron or braid added to the recipient's uniform and known as stripes since the early 1800s.
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The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.
Words nearby earn one's stripes
earnestness, earnings, earnings per share, Earnings Related Supplement, earn one's keep, earn one's stripes, EAROM, Earp, earphone, earpiece, ear-piercing
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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