to pull one's weight
20
3.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacer su parte
- In our project, it's essential that everyone pulls their weight to meet the deadline.
- pull their own weight
Examples
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Nothing will kill your personal productivity faster than a team member who is not pulling their own weight.
Blog text (26) -
You are not pulling your weight.
Fiction book (1998) -
Hey, I like to think that I pulled my weight.
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You gonna have to pull your weight around the house.
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No, I aim to pull my weight.
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The boy's gotta pull his weight like everyone else.
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I always seem to end up pulling more than my weight on a group project.
Blog text (23) -
As long as we function as a team and everyone pulls their weight, we'll get along just fine.
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If you don't pull your weight, the team suffers.
Academic text (2005) -
We have decided that, before the situation becomes irretrievable, all should be obligated to pull their own weight.
Blog text (20)
Synonyms
58
3.3
Join others to give work, help, or money for a shared task
8
5.8
Do your share of the work in a group
2
3.6
To do as much work as the others in a group
1
7.4
Continue doing your part for the team when things are hard
1
3.2
Act responsibly because your role or job needs it
Do your share of the work to help a group
Antonyms
How Helpful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a physical metaphor (to pull a load/weight) so a learner who knows 'pull' and 'weight' can plausibly infer the idea of carrying one’s share of a burden; the possessive 'one's' signals that the burden belongs to the person. However, the specific pragmatic meaning 'do your fair share of work' is a conventionalized metaphorical extension and not strictly literal, so it may not be fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Pull one's weight comes from the image of people using pull to move a heavy weight together, like a cart or a rope. If one person did not do their part, the group could not move the load. So the phrase now means 'to do your fair share'.