to knuckle down to it
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To work away at it, heart and soul ; to do one's best.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to knuckle down to it” mean?
To work away at it, heart and soul ; to do one's best.
Is “to knuckle down to it” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.