knuckle down
Britishverb
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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.
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See knuckle under .
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.
We will knuckle down and get going again.
From BBC • Dec. 9, 2024
Those in my profession need to knuckle down and do real work.
From Salon • Sep. 7, 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
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.
