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

First Minister Michelle O'Neill said the parties now had to "knuckle down" and "do the business of government".

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2024

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

"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