buckle down

/ˌbʌkəl daʊn/

Other forms: buckled down; buckling down; buckles down

When you buckle down, you get serious about your work, focusing diligently on the task at hand. If you've procrastinated for weeks on a school project, it might be time to buckle down and get it done.

It can feel pretty great to buckle down, applying yourself energetically to the goal of finishing a job. "If you guys buckle down, you'll have this fence painted by lunchtime." This phrase, which is a bit older than its synonym knuckle down, evolved from the 16th century buckle to. Experts' best guess is that this may have been an allusion to the buckling of a knight's armor before heading into battle.

Definitions of buckle down

1. verb

   start working very hard
   synonyms: break one's back, knuckle down, slave

   type of:

   do work, work

   be employed