to get one's finger out
1
9.9
- phrasal verb
- UK
:
ponerse las pilas
- She usually procrastinates, but today she finally decided to get her finger out and tackle her assignments.
Examples
-
If you want to finish the project on time, you really need to get your finger out and start working.
-
Tell her to get her finger out.
-
- Get your finger out!
-
Sometimes I get really silly and will ask her to look at my severed arm or to help me get my finger out of a mouse trap that I was playing with.
Blog text (1) -
After several reminders, he was told to get his finger out if he wanted to join the team.
Synonyms
12
5.8
Start working quickly and with energy
4
4.5
To start working hard after not doing much before
1
9.7
To start working hard without delay
To start trying much harder after being lazy
To start working hard after not doing much
To start working quickly and seriously
Antonyms
How Prompt
- Informal
12
5.8
- UK
1
9.9
- Informal
62
1.6
∞
1.0
318
2.5
17
5.0
26
6.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's intended meaning ('to start acting promptly/make an effort') cannot be derived from the literal parts 'get' + 'one's' + 'finger' + 'out' — a B1 learner would likely interpret a physical action of moving a finger rather than initiating effort. This is a chiefly British informal idiom with no obvious cross-linguistic cognate, so prior exposure is required to understand it.
Etymology
The idiom get one's finger out shows someone finally getting their finger out of a place where it was doing nothing so they can move it and work. So it means 'to stop delaying and start making an effort'.