roll up one's sleeves
Prepare for work
To roll up one's sleeves is to prepare for hard work or serious effort.
The image comes from literally pushing shirt sleeves above the elbows to keep them clean or out of the way during physical labor.
Now mostly figurative: Congress needs to roll up its sleeves and fix the problem.
The phrase suggests readiness to engage directly rather than observe from a distance.
Sustained strenuous effort
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- exertionVigorous physical effort
- elbow greaseStrenuous physical effort
sweat · grind · hustle · heavy lifting · legwork · graft · slog · industriousness
State of being prepared
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- resolveFirmness of purpose
- gearing upPreparing for something ahead
- bracingRefreshingly keen or stimulating
warming up · positioning · focusing · mental preparation · buckling down · digging in · hunkering down · centering
hard work
Sustained strenuous effort
- laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth
- toilStrenuous, prolonged effort
- exertionVigorous physical effort
elbow grease · sweat · grind · hustle · heavy lifting · legwork · graft · slog · industriousness · diligence
readiness
State of being prepared
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- resolveFirmness of purpose
- gearing upPreparing for something ahead
bracing · warming up · positioning · focusing · mental preparation · buckling down · digging in · hunkering down · centering · composure
roll up one's sleeveskick back
Rest without effort
put one's feet up · take it easy · slack off · sit on one's hands · phone it in
roll up one's sleevesthrow in the towel
Concede defeat voluntarily
give up · throw up one's hands · wave the white flag · quit · surrender
rolls, rolled, rolling, roller, sleeve, sleeves, sleeved, sleeveless