gird your loins

gird (up) (one's) loins

To prepare oneself to face or contend with something. You better gird your loins in preparation for another holiday with my dysfunctional family! They better gird up their loins—the weather up there is no joke.See also: gird, loin

gird your loins

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gird up your loins

JOURNALISM, LITERARYIf someone girds their loins or girds up their loins, they prepare themselves mentally to deal with a difficult situation. He is girding his loins to demand financial compensation. I am girding up my loins for another round of high-level meetings. Note: This expression is used several times in the Bible. The Hebrews wore long loose robes which they tied up with a girdle or belt when they were working or travelling. See also: gird, loin

gird (up) your loins

prepare and strengthen yourself for what is to come. This expression is of biblical origin, the idea being that the long, loose garments worn in the ancient Orient had to be hitched up to avoid impeding a person's movement. In 1 Kings 18:45–6, we find: ‘And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And…Elijah…girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel’. The phrase was also used metaphorically in the New Testament: ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you…’ (1 Peter 1:13).See also: gird, loin

gird (up) your ˈloins

(literary or humorous) prepare yourself for action, hard work, etc: There’s a lot of hard work to be done before the weekend, so let’s gird up our loins and start.In the Bible, to gird your loins meant to pick up your robe and tie it about your waist so that you could run or move much more quickly.See also: gird, loin