go to the mat

Idioms

Fight until one side or another is victorious, as in The governor said he'd go to the mat for this bill. This term comes from wrestling and evokes the holding of an opponent when both contestants are down on the mat, the padded floor-covering used in matches. It has been used figuratively since about 1900.

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.

See Examples For:

go to the mat

Were there ever things that you had to really go to the mat to fight for or that actually didn't make it?

From Salon ● Nov. 29, 2023

McBee: Can I go to the mat for someone else’s pick?

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

“I will go to the mat to get rid of this cap,” Pollet said.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

“You have to go to the mat every single day in this job.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2022

On that, before long, she and Natalie would have, in one of her own occasional lapses into slang, to go to the mat.

From Dangerous Days by Mary Roberts Rinehart

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