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Definition 2025
pull_oneself_up_by_one's_bootstraps
pull oneself up by one's bootstraps
English
Verb
pull oneself up by one's bootstraps
- (idiomatic) To begin an enterprise or recover from a setback without any outside help; to succeed only on one's own effort or abilities.
- We can't get a loan, so we'll just have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
- 1834, Workingman’s Advocate, 4 Oct. 1/1:
- It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots.
See also
- bootstrap (in the computing senses)
- self-starter
Translations
to begin an enterprise or recover from a setback without any outside help
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References
- figurative "bootstraps" (1834), Benjamin Zimmer, American Dialect Society, Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:24:16 -0400
- Re: bootstraps--speculation/questions, Benjamin Zimmer, American Dialect Society, Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:02:24 -0400
- World Wide Words: Boot, Michael Quinion