bita ihop

Swedish

Alternative forms

• bita ihop tänderna (uncommon)

Etymology

From bita (“bite”) +‎ ihop (“together”), in the sense of clenching one's teeth.

Verb

bita ihop (present biter ihop, preterite bet ihop, supine bitit ihop, imperative bit ihop)

1. to clench one's teeth
2. (idiomatic, figuratively) to grit one's teeth (face up to a difficult or disagreeable situation and deal with it, endure), (sometimes) to hunker down

   Det spöregnade, men bron måste repareras så snabbt som möjligt, så det var bara att bita ihop och arbeta

   It was pouring, but the bridge had to be repaired as quickly as possible, so we just had to hunker down / grit our teeth and work

See also

• bita i det sura äpplet

References

• tand in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bita ihop in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)