at the coal face
Directly engaged in the operations of a business, rather than in a hands off,…Directly engaged in the operations of a business, rather than in a hands off, managerial position.
» At last, they met face to face.
В конце концов они встретились с глазу на глаз. — Hellerick
Наконец они встретились лицом к лицу. — Ooneykcall
В конце концов они встретились лицом к лицу. — Ooneykcall
Нарешті вони зустрілися віч-на-віч. — deniko
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(UK, idiomatic)Directly engaged in the operations of a business, rather than in a hands off, managerial position.
Examples
102 sentencesAt last, they met face to face.
Нарешті вони зустрілися віч-на-віч. — deniko
ruВ конце концов они встретились с глазу на глаз. — Hellerick
I looked at his face carefully.
We shouldn't take that at face value.
Tom sat at the table facing Mary.
Don't take what Tom says at face value.
ruНе воспринимай то, что говорит Том, буквально. — astyng
deNimm das, was Tom sagt, nicht für bare Münze! — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Origin
From being in a coal mine, at the face where the mining is actually occurring, especiallyFrom being in a coal mine, at the face where the mining is actually occurring, especially in dark, cramped, dirty, hazardous conditions. Compare front line and trenches, of similar formation.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Synonyms
2 synonymsWord family
5 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.