put your nose to the grindstone

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

to apply oneself to hard, sustained, and focused work without distraction or interruption, maintaining intense concentration and effort over a prolonged period to accomplish a demanding task; the image derives from the craftsman's or miller's practice of bending close to the grinding wheel to monitor and direct the sharpening or grinding work, a posture requiring constant attentiveness and physical proximity to the labour at hand; the phrase implies that success is achieved through disciplined application rather than talent or cleverness alone, and is used both as exhortation and as description of the quality of sustained effort that difficult undertakings require