Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to study hard.

1932

J.A. Shidler ‘More Stanford Expressions’ in AS VII:6 437: If a student gets a ‘smoke-up,’ a notice that he is failing, he starts to ‘bone,’ ‘dryball,’ ‘Phi-bete,’ ‘grind,’ ‘hit the books,’ ‘crack books,’ or ‘dust ’em off,’ which is to study.