Meanings
present singular third person knuckles down · participle present knuckling down · participle past knuckled down · past knuckled down
- idiomaticintransitiveTo get to work; to focus on a task.
You should knuckle down and do your homework!
1 more example
As students all over the United States knuckle down to learning, the rumble of war drums once more proclaims Mars high man in Europe. Discarding morbid curiosity, every student should consider it vitally necessary to get a general picture of the causes, movements, and possible effects of World War II. The average U. S. citizen's knowledge of World War II will probably decide his role in it.
1939 November 10, “Following The War”, in The Chart, volume I, number 1, Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Junior College, page 4, column 1Synonyms: belly up to the bar, get one's act together, pull up one's socks, roll up one's sleeves, shape up
- To submit; knuckle under.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo get to work; to focus on a task.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
1864 in American English, from the game of marbles.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish ryhtyä hommiin
- ryhtyä hommiinto get to work
French se mettre au travail
- se mettre au travailto get to work
Polish brać się, wziąć się
- brać sięto get to work
- wziąć sięto get to work
Romanian se pune pe treabă, se apuca de lucru
- se pune pe treabăto get to work
- se apuca de lucruto get to work
Cite this entry
knuckle down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20down
“knuckle down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20down. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “knuckle down,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/knuckle%20down.
Source: knuckle down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.