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THE IDIOM COLLECTION LEARN & PRACTISE

Have your work cut out

Understand the meaning. See it in context. Make it yours.

01 / UNDERSTAND

Meaning in plain English

Have a difficult or demanding task ahead of you.

02 / SEE IT IN CONTEXT

The expression in a sentence

  1. We have our work cut out if we want to finish before Friday.

03 / CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Quick idiom quiz

Try the question without looking back, then write a sentence of your own. You can retry as often as you like.

Can you recall the expression?

Which expression from this lesson matches this meaning?

Have a difficult or demanding task ahead of you.
Show the answer

Have your work cut out — Have a difficult or demanding task ahead of you.

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Make it yours

Write one sentence using “Have your work cut out” about your own life.

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Does your sentence match this meaning?

Have a difficult or demanding task ahead of you.

Compare: We have our work cut out if we want to finish before Friday.

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Three volunteers face a large pile of unsorted books and empty sorting boxes while one checks the time.

GO DEEPER

More ways to understand and use it

Picture the meaning

The volunteers have many books to sort before time runs out. They have their work cut out: a demanding task lies ahead.

When to use it

Use this expression when acknowledging that a goal will require substantial effort. It is common in everyday and workplace conversation.

More examples in context

  • The new organiser has her work cut out for her with three events to plan.
  • I had my work cut out sorting years of unlabelled photographs.

Usage note

“Have your work cut out for you” is the fuller form. Change both pronouns as needed: “her work cut out for her”. It means the work is difficult, not that it has already been completed.

A short conversation

A: Can we catalogue all these books in one afternoon?
B: We’ll have our work cut out, but we can start by dividing them into sections.
A: I’ll make labels while you sort the first box.

One more practice question

If you have your work cut out, what should you expect?

A. A demanding task that requires real effort.
B. A task already completed with nothing left to do.

Check your answer

A. The phrase points to difficulty ahead.

Related lessons

Meaning and usage checked against Cambridge Dictionary. Explanations, examples and conversation are original.

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