school of hard knocks

American  

noun

1. the experience gained from living, especially from disappointment and hard work, regarded as a means of education.

   The only school he ever attended was the school of hard knocks.

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school of hard knocks Idioms  

1. The practical experience of life, including hardship and disappointments. For example, A self-made man, he never went to college but came up through the school of hard knocks. This idiom uses knock, “a blow,” as a metaphor for a setback. [Mid-1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of school of hard knocks

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

school of hard knocks

Dubois is a graduate of the literal school of hard knocks.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2024

After all, the hotel job was a step up on what he’d done before, in a whole other school of hard knocks.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2019

Asked about the Cubans who have struck it rich in America, he said: “They all come from the same school of hard knocks, from the same plan.”

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2016

He’s going through the school of hard knocks right now.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2015

But the complacent old oxen, graduates in the school of hard knocks and mosquitoes, winked solemnly, switched their tails and drowsed along unmoved.

From The Black Creek Stopping-House by McClung, Nellie L.