verb phrase🎓 English idiom

bend over backwards

to try very hard to help

What it means

To make an exceptional, often inconvenient effort to help someone or please them. It stresses going well beyond what is normally expected, sometimes at personal cost.

Examples

  • The staff bent over backwards to make our anniversary dinner truly special.
  • She bends over backwards for her clients, answering emails late into the night.
  • We bent over backwards to accommodate his schedule, yet he still complained.
  • Our hosts bent over backwards to ensure every guest felt welcome and comfortable.

Where it comes from

A 20th-century figurative expression playing on the physical impossibility of bending backwards, used to convey extreme, almost contortionist effort.

Related idioms

#go the extra mile#leave no stone unturned#through thick and thin#no pain, no gain

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