come hell or high water
Idioms-
see hell or high water.
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Also,. No matter what difficulty or obstacle, as in I'm going to finish this week, come hell or high water. This colloquial expression, alluding to the destructive forces of hellfire or flood, was first recorded in 1915 but is thought to be older.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I was going to find a way, come hell or high water, whether there was a clinic I was able to access or not,” Knowlton said.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 10, 2022
“I wanted to be open to nature, come hell or high water, and open to new friendships,” he said.
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2021
"The general theme of these calls was, come hell or high water, there will be a peaceful transfer of power on January twentieth," a senior official told the book's authors.
From Salon • Jul. 15, 2021
Every year, come hell or high water, the Oscars arrive at a late-winter-early-spring moment.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2017
She would keep her coffee down come hell or high water.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.