50 Idioms for Hard Work With Meanings & Sentences
Idioms for Hard Work
1. Break your back
Meaning: To work extremely hard.
In a Sentence: He broke his back trying to meet the deadline.
Other Ways to Say: Slave away, work tirelessly.
2. Nose to the grindstone
Meaning: Working hard and steadily.
In a Sentence: With her nose to the grindstone, Emily completed her chores efficiently.
Other Ways to Say: Keeping at it, staying focused.
3. Burn the midnight oil
Meaning: To work late into the night.
In a Sentence: She burned the midnight oil to finish her research paper.
Other Ways to Say: Stay up late working, work overtime.
4. Going the extra mile
Meaning: Putting in additional effort beyond what is expected.
In a Sentence: The students went the extra mile by volunteering to help clean up the classroom.
Other Ways to Say: Making an extra effort, going above and beyond.
5. Put your shoulder to the wheel
Meaning: To start working hard.
In a Sentence: If we want to finish this on time, everyone needs to put their shoulder to the wheel.
Other Ways to Say: Get down to work, give it your all.
6. All in a day’s work
Meaning: Something that is part of one’s normal responsibilities.
In a Sentence: Dealing with angry customers is all in a day’s work for a customer service agent.
Other Ways to Say: Routine task, usual duty.
7. Blood, sweat, and tears
Meaning: Great effort involving hard work and struggle.
In a Sentence: He built his business with blood, sweat, and tears.
Other Ways to Say: Hard-earned, effort-filled.
8. Work your fingers to the bone
Meaning: To work very hard for a long time.
In a Sentence: She worked her fingers to the bone to support her family.
Other Ways to Say: Tire oneself out, overwork.
9. Roll up your sleeves
Meaning: To prepare to start working hard.
In a Sentence: It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get this project done.
Other Ways to Say: Get ready to work, dive in.
10. Pull out all the stops
Meaning: To do everything possible to achieve a result.
In a Sentence: They pulled out all the stops to make the event a success.
Other Ways to Say: Go all out, spare no effort.
11. Put in long hours
Meaning: To work for many hours.
In a Sentence: She puts in long hours at the hospital every week.
Other Ways to Say: Work overtime, stay late.
12. Keep your head down
Meaning: To focus on work and avoid distractions.
In a Sentence: He kept his head down and avoided office gossip to meet his targets.
Other Ways to Say: Stay focused, stay out of trouble.
13. Bend over backward
Meaning: To make a great effort to help or satisfy someone.
In a Sentence: The teacher bent over backward to help the struggling student.
Other Ways to Say: Go out of your way, try hard.
14. Give it your all
Meaning: To put maximum effort into something.
In a Sentence: The team gave it their all during the championship game.
Other Ways to Say: Give 100%, do your best.
15. Pull your weight
Meaning: To do your fair share of work.
In a Sentence: Everyone needs to pull their weight if we want to finish on time.
Other Ways to Say: Do your part, contribute equally.
16. In the trenches
Meaning: In the middle of hard, hands-on work.
In a Sentence: He spent years in the trenches before becoming a manager.
Other Ways to Say: On the front lines, working hard.
17. Climb the ladder
Meaning: To advance in one’s job or career through hard work.
In a Sentence: She climbed the ladder through dedication and persistence.
Other Ways to Say: Move up, rise in ranks.
18. Get your hands dirty
Meaning: To do hard or dirty work yourself.
In a Sentence: He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty when needed.
Other Ways to Say: Pitch in, do the grunt work.
19. Sweat blood
Meaning: To work extremely hard.
In a Sentence: They sweated blood to complete the project on time.
Other Ways to Say: Struggle, labor intensely.
20. Dig in your heels
Meaning: To work harder and refuse to give up.
In a Sentence: He dug in his heels and kept pushing through the obstacles.
Other Ways to Say: Persevere, stand firm.
21. Put your back into it
Meaning: To make a strong physical or mental effort.
In a Sentence: If you put your back into it, we’ll be done by noon.
Other Ways to Say: Try harder, give full effort.
22. Slave away
Meaning: To work very hard, often without recognition.
In a Sentence: He slaved away at the restaurant for years before opening his own.
Other Ways to Say: Toil, grind.
23. Keep plugging away
Meaning: To continue working hard even if progress is slow.
In a Sentence: She kept plugging away until the job was done.
Other Ways to Say: Keep going, persist.
24. Hustle and grind
Meaning: To work hard and stay active, especially in business or side jobs.
In a Sentence: He’s all about the hustle and grind to build his brand.
Other Ways to Say: Stay on the grind, work non-stop.
25. Bust your chops
Meaning: To work hard or put in a lot of effort.
In a Sentence: He busted his chops all week to impress his new boss.
Other Ways to Say: Work diligently, give your best.
26. Break your back
Meaning: To work extremely hard.
In a Sentence: He broke his back preparing for the final presentation.
Other Ways to Say: Work to the bone, push oneself hard.
27. Pull your weight
Meaning: To do your fair share of work.
In a Sentence: Everyone has to pull their weight for the team to succeed.
Other Ways to Say: Do your part, carry your share.
28. Give it your all
Meaning: To put in full effort into something.
In a Sentence: She gave it her all during the marathon.
Other Ways to Say: Try your best, give your maximum.
29. Work your fingers to the bone
Meaning: To work very hard for a long time.
In a Sentence: My grandmother worked her fingers to the bone raising five kids.
Other Ways to Say: Labor tirelessly, slave away.
30. Put your heart into it
Meaning: To give something all of your emotional and physical energy.
In a Sentence: He put his heart into writing that book.
Other Ways to Say: Give your soul, go all in.
31. Burn the midnight oil
Meaning: To work late into the night.
In a Sentence: She burned the midnight oil studying for her exams.
Other Ways to Say: Work overtime, stay up working.
32. Hit the books
Meaning: To begin studying hard.
In a Sentence: After a lazy summer, it’s time to hit the books again.
Other Ways to Say: Study hard, dive into studying.
33. Work your socks off
Meaning: To work very hard.
In a Sentence: The whole team worked their socks off to meet the deadline.
Other Ways to Say: Hustle hard, grind non-stop.
34. Keep your head down
Meaning: To focus and keep working without distractions.
In a Sentence: He kept his head down and finished the project early.
Other Ways to Say: Stay focused, avoid distractions.
35. A tough row to hoe
Meaning: A difficult task to accomplish.
In a Sentence: Getting that promotion was a tough row to hoe.
Other Ways to Say: A hard challenge, an uphill task.
36. Get your hands dirty
Meaning: To do hard or messy work.
In a Sentence: She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty in the garden.
Other Ways to Say: Do labor work, get involved fully.
37. Make ends meet
Meaning: To earn just enough to live.
In a Sentence: He worked multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Other Ways to Say: Survive financially, manage expenses.
38. Burn the candle at both ends
Meaning: To work excessively without rest.
In a Sentence: She burned the candle at both ends preparing for the wedding.
Other Ways to Say: Overwork, push yourself.
39. Get down to brass tacks
Meaning: To start working seriously on the basic details.
In a Sentence: Let’s get down to brass tacks and finish this assignment.
Other Ways to Say: Get serious, focus on essentials.
40. Be on the grind
Meaning: To continuously work hard, often in a repetitive way.
In a Sentence: He’s been on the grind all week at the new job.
Other Ways to Say: Keep hustling, push nonstop.
41. Put in the legwork
Meaning: To do the physical or time-consuming work.
In a Sentence: You’ll need to put in the legwork if you want results.
Other Ways to Say: Do groundwork, handle the basics.
42. Sweat blood
Meaning: To work very hard with great effort.
In a Sentence: He sweated blood to meet the deadline.
Other Ways to Say: Push hard, labor intensely.
43. Do the heavy lifting
Meaning: To do the most difficult part of a task.
In a Sentence: She did the heavy lifting in organizing the event.
Other Ways to Say: Handle the hard part, carry the load.
44. Put your nose to the grindstone
Meaning: To focus intensely on work.
In a Sentence: Put your nose to the grindstone if you want to succeed.
Other Ways to Say: Focus deeply, concentrate.
45. No pain, no gain
Meaning: You must work hard or suffer to achieve something.
In a Sentence: The coach always said, “no pain, no gain.”
Other Ways to Say: Effort brings reward, push through the struggle.
46. Work yourself into the ground
Meaning: To overwork oneself to the point of exhaustion.
In a Sentence: She worked herself into the ground trying to launch the startup.
Other Ways to Say: Burnout, overexert yourself.
47. Keep plugging away
Meaning: To continue working hard even when progress is slow.
In a Sentence: Just keep plugging away, and you’ll succeed eventually.
Other Ways to Say: Persist, hang in there.
48. Bang away at
Meaning: To work persistently at a task.
In a Sentence: He kept banging away at the essay until it was perfect.
Other Ways to Say: Hammer at, keep working.
49. Roll up your sleeves
Meaning: To prepare for hard work.
In a Sentence: Let’s roll up our sleeves and get started on the project.
Other Ways to Say: Get ready to work, prepare for action.
50. Dig deep
Meaning: To work hard by drawing on one’s inner strength.
In a Sentence: She had to dig deep to finish the race.
Other Ways to Say: Find inner strength, push harder.
