Word.ws English Dictionary

on it like a car bonnet

Syllables: on it like a car bon·net

on it like a car bonnet prepositional phrase: synonym of on it (“actively working to solve a problem, etc.”).

Prepositional phrase

  1. (humorous, simile) Synonym of on it (“actively working to solve a problem, etc.”).
    • Students have described being focused like... / ... An eagle watching its prey ... a footballer with their eye on the ball ... ‘on it like a car bonnet’ ... catching a wave ... ‘just do it’ ... rolling your sleeves up ... keeping the rhythm in a band ... in the zone ... in a bubble ...a tiger2015, Jeff Gill, Will Medd, Get Sorted: How to Make the Most of Your Student Experience, Palgrave, →ISBN, page 49
    • ‘I had my researchers check the files on all the mispers and cold cases five years either side of that date estimate, on females of that approximate age. This is what they found. Fill your boots.’ He took a large gulp of his drink. / ‘I’m impressed, you've been moving fast.’ / ‘On it like a car...2015, Peter James, You Are Dead, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, →ISBN
    Synonyms:
    on it

Examples of on it like a car bonnet in a sentence

  • Fill your boots.’ He took a large gulp of his drink. / ‘I’m impressed, you've been moving fast.’ / ‘On it like a car bonnet, mate.’2015, Peter James, You Are Dead, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, →ISBN:
  • Whereupon I, seeing as how I knew stuff you didn't, was on it like a car bonnet and got you to sing like a canary what's won the X Factor and got top billing at the Royal Opera House.2016 July, J. L. Merrow, Blow Down: The Plumber's Mate, Cincinnati, Oh.: Samhain Publishing, →ISBN:

Synonyms of on it like a car bonnet

Origin of on it like a car bonnet

From English on it with the fanciful elaboration like a car bonnet, the latter part chosen because it rhymes with the first part.

Questions about on it like a car bonnet

What does on it like a car bonnet mean?
On it like a car bonnet means synonym of on it (“actively working to solve a problem, etc.”).
How do you use on it like a car bonnet in a sentence?
Fill your boots.’ He took a large gulp of his drink. / ‘I’m impressed, you've been moving fast.’ / ‘On it like a car bonnet, mate.’
What part of speech is on it like a car bonnet?
On it like a car bonnet is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on it like a car bonnet in the dictionary

  1. on ice
  2. on impulse
  3. on in years
  4. on instruments
  5. on it
  6. on it like a car bonnet
  7. on its merits
  8. on its way out
  9. on Jah
  10. on job
  11. on keel

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on it like a car bonnet (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-on_it_like_a_car_bonnet.opus, en-au-on it like a car bonnet.ogg.

Cite this entry: “on it like a car bonnet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_it_like_a_car_bonnet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.