go to the mat

Idioms  

1. 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

See Examples For:

go to the mat

But it appears it’s only this one retired congressman who is willing to go to the mat publicly at this point.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2024

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

“If I needed a lawyer to go to the mat for me, that’s the lawyer I would choose,” he said.

From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2022

The District’s Candy Kessel said the best pithy advice she ever received was from her boss during a performance evaluation many years ago: “Candy, you can’t go to the mat on everything.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2021

Clay restrained a good, healthy impulse to pick a row with him and go to the mat with the ex-prize-fighter.

From The Big-Town Round-Up by William MacLeod Raine

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---