rolled up one's sleeves
Prepared for work
Rolled up one's sleeves means prepared for hard work or serious effort.
The image is of someone pushing their sleeves back to keep them clean or out of the way before physical labor.
The phrase now applies to any determined engagement with a task: She rolled up her sleeves and got to work on the budget crisis.
- getting down to businessFocusing on the task
- toilingWorking strenuously, exhaustingly
- digging inEstablishing a defensive position
- gearing upPreparing for something ahead
- tacklingForcefully stopping an opponent
striving · getting ready · bearing down · laboring · warming up · buckle down · persevering · grinding · hustling · slogging · nose to the grindstone · enduring · pushing through · knuckling down · hard at work · putting in the work · fixing · crafting
rolled up one's sleevessat on one's hands
Chose inaction deliberately
twiddled one's thumbs · slacked off · put one's feet up · shirked · kicked back
rolled, rolling, rolls, roller, sleeve, sleeves, sleeved, sleeveless