put one's shoulder to the wheel

English

Etymology

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

Verb

put one's shoulder to the wheel (third-person singular simple present puts one's shoulder to the wheel, present participle putting one's shoulder to the wheel, simple past and past participle put one's shoulder to the wheel)

1. (figuratively) To work hard, to complete an activity with one's complete effort and focus.

   When he got to law school he knew he'd have to put his shoulder to the wheel to succeed.

   • 1935, Smedley Butler, War Is a Racket, page 1 & 7:

     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.

   • 2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 9, in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:

     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 […]

Related terms

• set one's shoulder to the wheel

See also

• ear to the ground, keep one's eye on the ball