Meanings
present singular third person rolls up one's sleeves · participle present rolling up one's sleeves · participle past rolled up one's sleeves · past rolled up one's sleeves
- idiomaticinformalTo prepare to work.
TNo more pomp and ceremony, the new pope seemed to be saying, but sleeves rolled up and joining the fight for social and economic justice.
2025 April 21, Peter Stanford, “Pope Francis obituary”, in The Guardian1 more example
"We could quite easily have folded today but thankfully they rolled up their sleeves and got back into it. We could even have won it. We had a couple of great opportunities but we just ran out of juice."
2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes quoting Steve Bruce, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport - Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see roll, up, one's, sleeves.
Synonyms: belly up to the bar, get down to brass tacks, get one's act together, pull one's socks up, shape up
Synonyms & antonyms
verbUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see roll, up, one's, sleeves.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 准备工作, 捲起袖子 /卷起袖子
- 准备工作 (zhǔnbèi gōngzuò)prepare to work
- 捲起袖子 /卷起袖子 (juǎnqǐ xiùzi)roll one's sleeves up
Danish smøge ærmerne op, smøge ærmerne op
- smøge ærmerne opprepare to work
- smøge ærmerne oproll one's sleeves up
Dutch de mouwen opstropen, de mouwen opstropen
- de mouwen opstropenprepare to work
- de mouwen opstropenroll one's sleeves up
Finnish kääriä hihat, kääriä hihat
- kääriä hihatprepare to work
- kääriä hihatroll one's sleeves up
French retrousser ses manches, retrousser ses manches
- retrousser ses manchesprepare to work
- retrousser ses manchesroll one's sleeves up
German die Ärmel hochkrempeln, Ärmel hochkrempeln
- die Ärmel hochkrempelnprepare to work
- Ärmel hochkrempelnroll one's sleeves up
Hungarian feltűri az inge ujját, feltűri az ingujját
- feltűri az inge ujjátroll one's sleeves up
- feltűri az ingujjátroll one's sleeves up
Icelandic láta hendur standa fram úr ermum, bretta upp ermarnar
- láta hendur standa fram úr ermumprepare to work
- bretta upp ermarnarroll one's sleeves up
Italian darsi da fare, rimboccarsi le maniche
- darsi da fareprepare to work
- rimboccarsi le manicheprepare to work
- rimboccarsi le manicheroll one's sleeves up
- smanicarsiroll one's sleeves up
Japanese 腕まくりする
- 腕まくりする (udemakuri suru)roll one's sleeves up
Polish zakasywać rękawy, zakasać rękawy
- zakasywać rękawyprepare to work
- zakasać rękawyprepare to work
- podwijać rękawyroll one's sleeves up
- podwinąć rękawyroll one's sleeves up
Portuguese pôr a mão na massa, arregaçar as mangas
- pôr a mão na massaprepare to work
- arregaçar as mangasprepare to work
- arregaçar as mangasroll one's sleeves up
Russian засучи́ть рукава́, засучи́ть рукава́
- засучи́ть рукава́ (zasučítʹ rukavá)prepare to work
- засучи́ть рукава́ (zasučítʹ rukavá)roll one's sleeves up
- заката́ть рукава́ (zakatátʹ rukavá)roll one's sleeves up
Spanish arremangarse, ponerse las pilas
- arremangarseprepare to work
- ponerse las pilasprepare to work
- arremangarseroll one's sleeves up
Swedish kavla upp ärmarna, kavla upp ärmarna
- kavla upp ärmarnaprepare to work
- kavla upp ärmarnaroll one's sleeves up
Ukrainian засу́кувати рукава́, засука́ти рукава́
- засу́кувати рукава́ (zasúkuvaty rukavá)prepare to work
- засука́ти рукава́ (zasukáty rukavá)prepare to work
- зака́чувати рукави́ (zakáčuvaty rukavý)prepare to work
- закача́ти рукави́ (zakačáty rukavý)prepare to work
Welsh torchi ei lewys, torchi ei lewys
- torchi ei lewysprepare to work
- torchi ei lewysroll one's sleeves up
Cite this entry
roll up one's sleeves. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20up%20one's%20sleeves
“roll up one's sleeves.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20up%20one's%20sleeves. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “roll up one's sleeves,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/roll%20up%20one's%20sleeves.
Source: roll up one's sleeves on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.