have one's work cut out for one
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
face a challenging task that requires a lot of effort
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
phải đối mặt với một nhiệm vụ đầy thách thức đòi hỏi nhiều nỗ lực
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: have one's work already prepared
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She has her work cut out for her to finish the project on time
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “have one's work cut out for one” mean?
face a challenging task that requires a lot of effort Literally: have one's work already prepared
Is “have one's work cut out for one” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.