Dictionary

put one's shoulder to the wheel en · VERB

Etymology

From the literal action of attempting to free a cart from a rut or muddy ground.

Meanings

1. (figuratively) To work hard, to complete an activity with one's complete effort and focus.
   • Along the way, companies such as Facebook and Google employ every useful foot soldier, including social scientists such as [Alexander] Kogan who are willing to put their shoulders to the wheel as they help the company learn, perfect, and integrate the cutting-edge methods that can conquer the next frontier […] 2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 9, in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:
   • When he got to law school he knew he'd have to put his shoulder to the wheel to succeed.
   • War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives... Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket—and are safely pocketed. 1935, Smedley Butler, War Is a Racket, page 1 & 7:

Forms

Relateds

keep one's eye on the ball · ear to the ground · set one's shoulder to the wheel