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.

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

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

From Seattle Times • Mar. 9, 2023

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

I was looking forward to celebrating Jeremy O. Harris’ path-breaking “Slave Play,” thrillingly directed by Robert O’Hara, and was ready to go to the mat for Ivo van Hove’s multimedia reconstruction of “West Side Story.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2020

Taking Cat home had been just a passing thought, but right now I decide I’ll really go to the mat with Pop about this.

From It’s like this, cat by Neville, Emily

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