fight tooth and nail

Idioms

Engage in vigorous combat or make a strenuous effort, using all one's resources. For example, I'm going to fight tooth and nail for that promotion. This expression, with its allusion to biting and scratching, was first recorded in 1576.

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.

"We had to fight tooth and nail for that result," said Smith.

From Barron's • Oct. 12, 2025

"Whatever and however they announce their plans for Port Talbot, Unite will fight tooth and nail to defend steel workers and our steel industry," she said.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2024

It was also clear that the city and King County faced an uphill battle to find cities and neighborhoods that wouldn’t fight tooth and nail against having a site.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2023

This makes for a series of incredibly uncomfortable scenes with the couple who fight tooth and nail to get back to the connection they thought had in the pods.

From Salon • Oct. 2, 2023

As with everything else he attempted, he had to fight tooth and nail to win a seat in the stern of one of Al Ulbrickson’s boats.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023