work one's fingers to the bone
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to work extremely hard
Literally: to work until one's fingers are damaged
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She worked her fingers to the bone to meet the project 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.
Equivalents & related
Near equivalent
chân lấm tay bùn
(verb) to toil bitterly; to labor arduously; to work one's fingers to the bone; to break one's back; to keep one's nose to the grindstone
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
bục mặt
(verb) to work one's fingers to the bone
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
break one's back
to work extremely hard
English · via chân lấm tay bùn
Near equivalent
nose to the grindstone
To work very hard and constantly
English · via chân lấm tay bùn
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “work one's fingers to the bone” mean?
to work extremely hard Literally: to work until one's fingers are damaged
Is “work one's fingers to the bone” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“chân lấm tay bùn” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.