to claw one's way to the top
1
8.0
- idiom
:
luchar por llegar a la cima
- Many believe that to claw your way to the top, you must be willing to make tough choices and sacrifices.
Examples
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In other words, those who fight and claw their way to the top, pushing others out of the way so that they can be in first position will be last in the Kingdom of God.
Blog text (18) -
You know that no one can claw their way to the top without getting a little dirt under their fingernails.
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And zombies have clawed their way to the top of book best-seller lists in the last decade.
Academic text (2010) -
A presidential candidate who has clawed his way to the top by slander and demagoguery, the fiercely ambitious Cantwell is driven in part by his envy of what he calls "the Groton, Harvard Wall Street set."
Academic text (1995) -
After years of hard work and sacrifice, she finally clawed her way to the top and became the CEO of the company.
-
He had to claw his way to the top in a competitive industry where only the strongest survive.
Synonyms
8
6.5
Push a plan or idea through by ignoring other people's views
Antonyms
How Determined
Surface Forms
Morphology
claw + one + way + to + the + top
The phrase combines literal elements—'claw' (to grasp/pull), 'one's way' (progress), and 'to the top' (the highest position)—so a learner who knows the parts can infer a metaphorical image of struggling upward to success. However, the meaning relies on a metaphorical extension and the nuance of ruthless/determined effort is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Claw one's way to the top gives the image of someone using sharp claws to pull themselves up a steep place, even pushing past others to reach the top. So, it means fighting and struggling, sometimes in a ruthless and determined way, to get 'success'.