(often imperative, usually sports) To face a challenge by making a bold, superior effort, lest one give up and forgo the opportunity.

It takes an experienced person to execute a difficult undertaking.

(colloquial, dated)

(informal, humorous) Used to point out the listener's laziness.

(idiomatic) Mistreated; not properly cared for. / (colloquial, potentially offensive) Presumed to have had a significant number of lovers and showing the signs of overuse. (Typically said of women.)

(colloquial, Southern US) Alternative form of ridden hard and put away wet (“in either sense”)

It is easy to lose sight of one's initial objective, becoming caught up in subtasks or in tasks only tangentially related to the original goal.