What it means
To throw your full physical effort behind a task, using the strength of your whole back and not just your arms. Shouted at someone heaving a heavy load or rowing a boat, it is a call to stop slacking and really push. Effort measured in sweat and a sore back.
Usage examples
"If we all put our backs into it, we can shift this wardrobe upstairs before the match kicks off."
"Right lads, we have got an hour to move the entire fridge from the back garden to the kitchen in this Birmingham flat, put your back into it or my wife is going to kill us all."
"If you put your back into it on this fundraising drive in the Bristol office, we hit target by Friday, otherwise we are stuck explaining the spreadsheet to head office in Glasgow."
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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