laboring oar
English
editAlternative forms
editNoun
editlaboring oar (plural laboring oars)
- An oar that is worked with great effort.
- (chiefly US, figurative, by extension) The part of a task that requires the greatest effort to achieve.
- 2019, Kisor v. Wilkie (U.S. Supreme Court No. 18-15), Justice Kagan:
- And so too, when new issues demanding new policy calls come up within that scheme, Congress presumably wants the same agency, rather than any court, to take the laboring oar.
- 2019, Kisor v. Wilkie (U.S. Supreme Court No. 18-15), Justice Kagan:
Further reading
edit- “labouring oar”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “laboring oar”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.