pull one's finger out of one's arse
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to start taking action or making an effort
Literally: to remove one's finger from one's anus
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He needs to pull his finger out of his arse if he wants to meet the deadline
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 “pull one's finger out of one's arse” mean?
to start taking action or making an effort Literally: to remove one's finger from one's anus
Is “pull one's finger out of one's arse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.