to rest on one's oars
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To take an interval of rest after hard work. A boating phrase.
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 rest on one's oars” mean?
To take an interval of rest after hard work. A boating phrase.
Is “to rest on one's oars” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.