knuckle down

British  

verb

1. informal (intr, adverb) to apply oneself diligently

   to knuckle down to some work

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knuckle down Idioms  

1. Apply oneself seriously to some task or goal, as in The professor insisted that we knuckle down and get our papers in by Friday . Both this term and the rhyming synonym buckle down date from the 1860s, but the precise allusion in either is unclear.

2. See knuckle under .

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Example Sentences

I mean, that was very hard, so it took a while and I had to sort of knuckle down, but I wanted to put something honest on the page.

From Salon • Jul. 19, 2023

The whiteboard propped up on his desk urged her to stop wasting time scrolling, and to knuckle down and study with him.

From BBC • May 3, 2022

"Just really knuckle down, because we don’t want to be one of those teams that’s got to rearrange their schedule because we have COVID," King said.

From Fox News • Dec. 15, 2021

“Just really knuckle down, because we don’t want to be one of those teams that’s got to rearrange their schedule because we have COVID,” King said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 15, 2021

“I’ll tell you what. I’m going to try to make some money. If you knuckle down and pass examinations a year early, why, I’ll help you through college.”

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck