🗓️ Idiom: Pound the Pavement (v)
💬 Meaning
- To go out and look for work, clients, or opportunities, especially by visiting places or approaching people in person.
- To make an active effort to achieve something, especially in sales or job hunting.
🧠 Example Sentences
- After college, I spent weeks pounding the pavement trying to land a job.
- Our sales reps pounded the pavement to introduce our product to local businesses.
- She’s been pounding the pavement for months looking for investors for her startup.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase comes from the image of someone walking extensively on city sidewalks (pavement), often wearing out their shoes, while looking for work or sales leads. It reflects persistence and effort in real-world settings.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
He was determined to find a job, so he got up early and started to __________.
Answer
pound the pavement
2. Choose the correct meaning of “pound the pavement”:
A) To walk aimlessly
B) To search actively for work or opportunities
C) To relax after a busy day
Answer
B) To search actively for work or opportunities
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“She visited many offices in person to apply for jobs.” → Change the sentence using: pound the pavement
Answer
She pounded the pavement to apply for jobs.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 Marketing and Sales Idioms. 👉 Marketing and Sales Vocabulary
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
Leave a Reply