pull one's finger out

Clipping of pull one's finger out of one's arse, probably from the notion that one should not sit on one's hands.

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pull one's finger out (third-person singular simple present pulls one's finger out, present participle pulling one's finger out, simple past and past participle pulled one's finger out)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To stop wasting time in preliminaries, and concentrate on the important task.

   You've been sitting there all week. It's time you sorted yourself out and pulled your finger out!

   • 2022 March 23, “Network News: Warning of risk to new-builds unless funding settlement agreed”, in RAIL, number 953, page 18:

     Speaking at Mayor's Question Time on February 24, Sheikh said: "It's time for the Government to pull its finger out and give TfL the funding package it needs in the wake of the pandemic.

• “get (or pull) one’s finger out”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.