Meanings
plural long rows to hoe
- idiomaticA difficult, arduous task or set of tasks; a lengthy, demanding project.
Labour has begun to redress the balance, but there is still a long row to hoe.
2009 April 11, Hanif Kureishi, “Margaret Thatcher: Acceptable in the 80s?”, in The Guardian, UK, retrieved 23 Jul 20142 more examples
“Don’t you suppose I know all that you’ve been through. . . ? I’ve followed you every step. . . .” “Well, you’ve had a long row to hoe.”
1907, William Dean Howells, chapter 5, in Between the Dark and the DaylightJapan's six-year economic slump is far from over. “They have a long row to hoe for recovery,” said Richard Koss.
1997 November 29, “Dollar Nears 5-Year High Against the Yen”, in New York Times, retrieved 23 Jul 2014Synonyms: tough row to hoe, hard row to hoe
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA difficult, arduous task or set of tasks; a lengthy, demanding project.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 任重道遠 /任重道远
- 任重道遠 /任重道远 (rènzhòngdàoyuǎn)difficult task
Finnish iso homma, vaativa homma
- iso hommadifficult task
- vaativa hommadifficult task
Cite this entry
long row to hoe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20row%20to%20hoe
“long row to hoe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20row%20to%20hoe. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “long row to hoe,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20row%20to%20hoe.
Source: long row to hoe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.