gird (up) (one's) loins

(redirected from gird her loins)

gird (up) (one's) loins

To prepare oneself to face or contend with something. You better gird your loins in preparation for another holiday with my dysfunctional family! They better gird up their loins—the weather up there is no joke.

See also: gird, loin

gird up one's loins

Fig. to get ready, especially for hard work; to prepare oneself (for something). Well, I guess I had better gird up my loins and go to work. Somebody has to do something about the problem. Why don't you gird up your loins and do something?

gird one's loins

Also, gird up one's loins. Prepare oneself for action, as in I'm girding up my loins for that crucial interview. This expression comes from the Bible (Proverbs 31:17) and originally alluded to tucking up the traditional long robe into a girdle (that is, a belt) so it will not hamper physical activity. [c. 1600]

See also: gird, loin

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gird your loins

gird up your loins

JOURNALISM, LITERARY

If someone girds their loins or girds up their loins, they prepare themselves mentally to deal with a difficult situation. He is girding his loins to demand financial compensation. I am girding up my loins for another round of high-level meetings. Note: This expression is used several times in the Bible. The Hebrews wore long loose robes which they tied up with a girdle or belt when they were working or travelling.

See also: gird, loin

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

gird (up) your loins

prepare and strengthen yourself for what is to come.

This expression is of biblical origin, the idea being that the long, loose garments worn in the ancient Orient had to be hitched up to avoid impeding a person's movement. In 1 Kings 18:45–6, we find: ‘And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And…Elijah…girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel’. The phrase was also used metaphorically in the New Testament: ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you…’ (1 Peter 1:13).

See also: gird, loin

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

gird (up) your ˈloins

(literary or humorous) prepare yourself for action, hard work, etc: There’s a lot of hard work to be done before the weekend, so let’s gird up our loins and start.In the Bible, to gird your loins meant to pick up your robe and tie it about your waist so that you could run or move much more quickly.

See also: gird, loin

gird (up) (one's) loins

To summon up one's inner resources in preparation for action.

See also: gird, loin

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

gird (up) one's loins, to

To prepare for action (hard work, a journey, warfare). The term comes from the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and uses gird in the sense of “encircle with a belt or band.” The ancient Jews wore loose clothing and put on a girdle, or belt, only when they went to work or set out to travel. Thus, “He girded up his loins, and ran” appears in I Kings (18:76), and “Gird up now thy loins like a man” in Job (in several passages). It had already become figurative in the New Testament, where 1 Peter has it, “Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober” (1:13).