earn (one's) wings

(redirected from earn his wings)

earn (one's) wings

To prove one's merit and skill. I never thought much of Stu, but he really earned his wings this week with how well he handled the merger.
See also: earn, wing
References in periodicals archive ?
Clarence is an AS2 - angel, second-class - trying for 200 years to become fully qualified and earn his wings.
It's a wonderful surprise ... angel Clarence is from Northumberland
JOE CRAGGS insists he has the taste for the big stage as he continues to earn his wings at Newcastle Falcons.
Craggs enjoys life at very top; RUGBY UNION
Enter Clarence, Angel second class whose mission is to save George and earn his wings.
Wonderful festive tale of hope; BILLINGHAM PLAYERS
The author goes on to complete more summer courses and add rank and decorations to his uniform, but before he can earn his wings he is forcibly confined to a Psychiatric ward for an illness he can't understand and doesn't accept.
Through The Withering Storm: A Brief History of a Mental Illness Now Available in Paperback in Time for Bipolar Awareness Month
He received his private pilot license in 1954 and became the first Aboriginal person in the Northwest Territories to earn his wings as a commercial pilot in 1958.
Fred Carmichael
Pippin Hal by Paul Williams Benny Tyler returns to the Liverpool estate where he was murdered in gang violence, to earn his wings as a Guardian Angel.
City to host its first one-act play festival
Paul Williams's Pippin Hal is a coming-of-age tale about a guardian angel trying to earn his wings.
Ex-EastEnder to star in one-act plays festival
The young royal (right) will don overalls and a helmet and take to the skies with an instructor to earn his wings just like the Prince of Wales did more than 35 years ago.
William prepares to earn his RAF wings
The young royal will don overalls and a helmet and take to the skies with an instructor to earn his wings just like the Prince of Wales did more than 35 years ago.
William's taking to the skies
It provides the opportunity for a youngster to earn his wings as a pitcher.
"Plane-speaking" on the pitching delivery
Not only did he not earn his wings, the Army say he probably never even completed one parachute jump.
Former soldier tells how he was shot by a Kalashnikov, blown up by a landmine, crashed in a helicopter, served behind enemy lines in Bosnia, made 20 Para jumps, served in the Gulf Wars and earned bravery medals. But John Bartley's tales of heroism are.. FAKE; EXCLUSIVE
In order to earn his wings in heaven and once again team up with Gracie Allen, George Burns (Gorshin) is assigned by God (Dangerfield) to redeem a hopeless human named Shoomie (writer-director Scott Edmund Lane).
Angels with Angles
Brazil's first Skyhawk pilot became the last pilot to earn his wings on the TA-4J at NAS Meridian, landing the first A-4 on Sao Paulo in July 2001.
Sao Paulo rules the waves
For Jon plucked up the courage to earn his wings in a parachute jump of his own - in aid of Operation Echo.
TAKING THE PLUNGE; Jon's a Prince among men after his first parachute jump
Patrick even found time to earn his wings, doing so at age 59.
Maj Gen Mason M. Patrick
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