roll up sleeves
Ready for work
To roll up sleeves is to fold shirt or jacket sleeves back toward the elbow, typically in preparation for physical work or to stay cool.
The phrase almost always appears figuratively, meaning to prepare for serious effort: Congress needs to roll up its sleeves and get to work on the budget.
The image suggests readiness to tackle something difficult or messy.
- prepareMake ready beforehand
- workEffort toward a goal
- hard workSustained strenuous effort
- effortApplied energy toward goals
- determinationFirmness of purpose
ready · get to work · shirtsleeves · forearms · task · labor · grit · dig in · buckle down · knuckle down · get down to business · elbow grease · hands-on · sweat · manual · blue collar · toil · heavy lifting
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- getting readyget ready, readying, be prepared, equipping, gear up
- get startedget going, get moving, dig in, dive in, jump in
- getting startedgetting started, start, begin, first steps, basics
- independencefreedom, liberty, Independence Day, autonomy, sovereignty
- perseverancepersist, never give up, tenacity, hang in there, endurance
roll up sleevessit back
Relax without participating
slack off · take it easy · kick back · phone it in · coast
roll up sleeveswash one's hands of
Renounce all responsibility for
delegate · step back · disengage · keep one's distance · abstain
roll, rolls, rolled, rolling, roller, sleeve, sleeves, sleeved, sleeveless