pull yourself up by your own bootstraps
pull (oneself) up by (one's) (own) bootstraps
To improve one's life or circumstances through one's own efforts, rather than relying on others. After I declared bankruptcy, I had to pull myself up by my bootstraps and rebuild my financial standing. Whenever I hear someone say that poor people just need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, I remind them that a lot of people don't have boots.
See also: bootstrap, by, pull, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
pull (or drag) yourself up by your own bootstraps
improve your position by your own efforts.A bootstrap is sometimes sewn into the back of boots to help with pulling them on. This idiom has given rise to the computing term bootstrapping , meaning the process of loading a program into a computer by means of a few initial instructions which enable the introduction of the rest of the program from an input device. We now refer to the process of starting a computer as booting or booting up .
See also: bootstrap, by, own, pull, up
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
- at doorstep
- at (one's) doorstep
- at will
- at (one's) expense
- at expense
- at somebody's expense
- at someone's expense
- be remembered as (something)
- be remembered as/for something
- be in (one's) good graces