Meaning of pick up the pieces | Babel Free

Definitions

To restore one's life (or a given situation etc.) to a normal state, after a calamity, shock etc.

idiomatic, intransitive

Examples

“Picking up the pieces after the Suez disaster, the British found themselves getting used to the idea that they are not as big a power as they thought they were.”

“"Cutting administrators is a huge mistake, and will only mean other staff such as nurses have to pick up the pieces."”

“This is a scorched earth policy, leaving Labour - which has made the right noises, but not loudly enough - with the job of picking up the pieces. Given the incoherence of the plans, the best hope is that the public outcry - even the Daily Telegraph is against them - delays them enough for a new government to rescue most of the ticket offices from closure, but this is no way to run a railway.”

CEFR level