: to do hard, continuous work You'll do well at school if you just keep your nose to the grindstone.

What does back to the grindstone mean?

It means "to return to work" / "to return to a tedious task". A related idiom is "put your nose to the grindstone" or simply "nose to the grindstone!" which means "to intensely concentrate on one's work" especially where that work is boring or tedious.

What is a synonym for grindstone?

Grindstone synonyms

Find another word for grindstone. In this page you can discover 7 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for grindstone, like: shovel, stone, emery wheel, wheel, abrasive, chisel and pickaxe.