pull oneself up by one's bootstraps
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To improve one's situation through one's own efforts
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Cải thiện tình hình thông qua nỗ lực của bản thân
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: lifting oneself up by straps on boots
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She pulled herself up by her bootstraps and became a successful entrepreneur
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 oneself up by one's bootstraps” mean?
To improve one's situation through one's own efforts Literally: lifting oneself up by straps on boots
Is “pull oneself up by one's bootstraps” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.