Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

in harness

Idioms  

  1. On duty or at work. For example, Despite his illness he's determined to continue in harness. It also is put as be back in harness, meaning “to return to duty or work,” as in After a long vacation she's finally back in harness. This expression alludes to horses harnessed to perform work. [First half of 1800s] Also see die with one's boots on (in harness).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Kay, played by Nicole Kidman, is newly back in harness as the chief medical officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a job she’d held before being pushed out some unspecified years earlier.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

France-based stars Marcos Kremer and Juan Cruz Mallia, who missed the two Test defeats by England in July, are back in harness, while eight of the starting XV are established Prem performers.

From BBC • Nov. 23, 2025

Bit wear on two of the mares also suggested they were used under saddle or in harness and for breeding.

From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2024

Thousands of his supporters in the usually sleepy northern Serbian town of some 47,000 people also converged on the local horse racing track where Jokic was watching his family-owned horses compete in harness races.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 18, 2023

We woke rather late next morning, had a double breakfast, and then got in harness and prilled our light sledge right off the edge of the world.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.