blood, sweat and tears
A person's determination and hard work.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“This project took a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”
“You can see his blood, sweat and tears in this beautiful garden.”
“She put her blood, sweat and tears into building this business from the ground up.”
“The athletes poured their blood, sweat and tears into training for the championship, sacrificing every weekend to improve their performance.”
“After years of blood, sweat and tears, the author finally completed the manuscript that would define her career.”
first recorded 20th c. disputed origin
Popularized through a famous speech made by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons in 1940, with slight modification, but already present in earlier poetry. More information May be an extension of a much older Indo-European poetic formula “blood and tears”; compare e.g. Hittite 𒂊𒌍𒄩𒉌 𒅖𒄩𒄴𒊒𒌑𒄿 (e-eš-ḫa-ni iš-ḫa-aḫ-ru-ú-i, “in blood [and] in tear(s)”). It is common in Indo-European oral traditions to three bodily substances pertaining to a certain theme, such as “flesh, bone and marrow” for the internal solids (cf. Calin (2017), pages 143–146).
- 01
blood and guts
Gore; gruesome images.
- 02
blood in the water
In a competitive situation, the exhibition of apparent weakness or vulnerability by one party, especially when this leads to a feeling of vulnerability or greater pressure to perform on the part of the weak party, or enhanced expectation of victory by the others.
- 03
blood is thicker than water
Family relations and loyalties are stronger than relationships with people who are not family members.
- 04
break a sweat
To put effort into something.
- 05
burst into tears
To suddenly start crying or sobbing.
- 06
don't sweat it
Do not worry about it.
- 07
end in tears
To end badly.
- 08
get blood out of a stone
To do something difficult, frustrating, or pointless.
Last updated August 10, 2026