Pull oneself up by the bootstraps
Succeed by one’s own efforts, as in She was homeless for nearly two years, but she managed to pull herself up by the bootstraps. This expression alludes to pulling on high boots by means of the straps or loops attached to them at the top. [ Early 1900s ]
Read Also:
- Pullorum-disease
[puh-lawr-uh m, -lohr-] /pəˈlɔr əm, -ˈloʊr-/ noun, Veterinary Pathology. 1. a highly contagious, frequently fatal disease of young poultry caused by the bacterium Salmonella gallinarum (pullorum), transmitted by the infected hen during egg production, and characterized by weakness, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. /pʊˈlɔːrəm/ noun 1. an acute serious bacterial disease of very young birds, […]
- Pullout
[poo l-out] /ˈpʊlˌaʊt/ noun 1. an act or instance of pulling out; removal. 2. a withdrawal, as of troops or funds; pullback. 3. a maneuver by which an aircraft levels into horizontal flight after a dive. 4. a section of a newspaper or magazine that is complete in itself and may be removed and retained: […]
- Pull out of a hat
Produce suddenly and surprisingly, as if by magic. For example, We can’t just pull the answers out of a hat. This expression alludes to the magician’s trick of pulling some unexpected object out of a hat. That object is often a rabbit, and the expression pull a rabbit out of a hat is often used […]
- Pullover
[poo l-oh-ver] /ˈpʊlˌoʊ vər/ noun 1. Also called slipover. a garment, especially a sweater, that must be drawn over the head to be put on. adjective 2. designed to be put on by being drawn over the head. /ˈpʊlˌəʊvə/ noun 1. a garment, esp a sweater, that is pulled on over the head adj. 1871, […]
- Pull-quote
[poo l-kwoht] /ˈpʊlˌkwoʊt/ noun 1. (in a magazine or newspaper) an excerpted line or phrase, in a larger or display typeface, run at the top of a page or in a mid-column box to draw attention to the text of the article or story from which it is quoted; blurb. noun an excerpted line or […]