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

Brown agreed, saying, “Through the school of hard knocks, we’re better at managing through it.”

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022

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

I went to the school of hard knocks and paid for my education by getting ripped off.

From Washington Times • Jun. 21, 2015

We've moved on from the simple certainties of main provider, secondary carer and stern dispenser of wisdom gained at cost out there in the school of hard knocks.

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2015

The school of hard knocks made him a man of might.

From A Man's Value to Society Studies in Self Culture and Character by Hillis, Newell Dwight