do one's bit

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

do one's bit (third-person singular simple present does one's bit, present participle doing one's bit, simple past did one's bit, past participle done one's bit)

1. (informal) To make an individual contribution toward an overall effort.

   Synonyms: do one's part, do one's fair share

   • 1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 355:

     Soon we were climbing through New Mills and Foxhall, both of which are closed entirely, their buildings doing their bit to ease the housing problem, and Kilmacrenan was reached at four o'clock.

   • September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Elizabeth was said to be slow to mature, but she and her sister did their bit by digging vegetable plots and knitting garments for the troops.

Translations

to make an individual contribution toward an overall effort

• Dutch: zijn steentje bijdragen
• Finnish: tehdä oma osansa
• French: apporter sa pierre à l’édifice (fr), faire sa part, faire sa part du boulot
• Polish: robić swoje (pl) impf, zrobić swoje pf
• Spanish: arrimar el hombro (es), aportar su grano de arena
• Swedish: dra sitt strå till stacken (sv)

See also

• carry one's weight