tough sledding


Difficult work or progress, as in This bill faces tough sledding in the legislature. This idiom transfers the route on which a sled can travel to other kinds of progress toward a goal. It was first recorded as hard sledding in 1839. For the antonym, see easy sledding.

Words Nearby tough sledding

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use tough sledding in a sentence

  • He also writes academic medical articles that are at times pretty tough sledding.

    Behind the Swine Flu Emergency | Kent Sepkowitz | October 26, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • "tough sledding," he wheezed, as he sat upon his barrow handles and wiped his brow with a bandanna handkerchief.

    The Pike's Peak Rush | Edwin L. Sabin
  • It has been pretty tough sledding waiting for the next Australian steamer, but, thank God!

    Cappy Ricks Retires | Peter B. Kyne
  • "tough sledding we'd have had with an automobile over those hills," he said.

    The Foolish Virgin | Thomas Dixon
  • "It's been pretty tough sledding out there in the mining country," he said.

    The Easiest Way | Eugene Walter and Arthur Hornblow