blood, sweat and tears
Noun
Meaning
blood, sweat and tears pl (plural only)
(idiomatic) A person's determination and hard work.
Examples
It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.
If you are an inventor, then you are destined for blood, sweat and tears.
Kids take work, effort, love, blood, sweat and tears and are a full time job. You have to commit, for better or worse and then give your all and hope for the best. The one thing you can never, ever do is give up and say, 'Oooops, never mind, my bad, you can take this one back'!
Whenever you get to win, you feel the satisfaction of all of your hard work, all the sacrifices, all the blood, sweat and tears. It feels right and makes you realise that you are really doing the right thing.
Southern states in the confederacy were not ready to give up their fight to secede or give up their way of life, which was made possible in large part through the blood, sweat and tears of African slaves.
This means a lot. I'm being recognized for all the blood, sweat and tears I put into a 17-year career.