OXFORD 9000
📚 verb • entry_id 16763

pull oneself up by one's bootstraps

Meanings (ES + gloss)
como Juan Palomo
To begin an enterprise or recover from a setback without any outside help; to succeed only by one's own efforts or abilities.
It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots.
We can't get a loan, so we'll just have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
Phrases
No hay frases