as in to buckle (down)
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Recent Examples of knuckle down
Teams will use the five-week gap between the races in Japan and Miami to knuckle down at their factories and develop car upgrades that could boost their fortunes upon returning to the track in May.
—
Luke Smith, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
In survival mode, many brands have been forced to knuckle down and fortify their business strategies, in hopes of setting them up for success against a difficult backdrop.
—Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2026
European countries need to knuckle down and increase their military capabilities while Russia is still dedicating a chunk of its forces to its invasion of Ukraine, Sweden's defense minister has said.
—Ellie Cook — Reporting From Prague, Czech Republic, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
Bunnie is knuckling down to help women escaping domestic violence.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Luke Smith, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026
In survival mode, many brands have been forced to knuckle down and fortify their business strategies, in hopes of setting them up for success against a difficult backdrop.
—Madeleine Schulz, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2026
European countries need to knuckle down and increase their military capabilities while Russia is still dedicating a chunk of its forces to its invasion of Ukraine, Sweden's defense minister has said.
—Ellie Cook — Reporting From Prague, Czech Republic, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
Bunnie is knuckling down to help women escaping domestic violence.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knuckle down
Verb
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But for a Cy Young candidate who, as part of a six-man rotation, won’t pitch in as many games as his competition, efficiency matters.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
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Trip Harriss, who managed the Falcon 9 fleet operations in 2016, said everyone at the company pitched in to support the investigation and then the reconstruction of the SLC-40 pad.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
Verb
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One notable aspect of sleepmaxxing is that those who dig in tend to view sleep more as a performance tool than as a period of rest.—
Sharon Brandwein,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
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In the new film, Yana Radeva stars as an archaeologist working on a dig in Svilengrad, a small town on the Bulgarian border.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
28 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Knuckle down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knuckle%20down. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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