mano a mano

American  

[mah-naw ah mah-naw, mah-noh uh mah-noh] / ˈmɑ nɔ ɑ ˈmɑ nɔ, ˈmɑ noʊ ə ˈmɑ noʊ /

noun

manos a manos plural

1. (italics) a corrida in which two matadors alternate in fighting two or three bulls each.

2. a direct confrontation or conflict; head-on competition; duel.

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adjective

1. being or resembling such a confrontation.

   a mano a mano struggle in the courtroom between two superb criminal lawyers.

adverb

1. in direct competition or rivalry.

   a brash newcomer in tennis taking on the reigning champion mano a mano.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• manos a manos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mano a mano

< Spanish: on an equal footing, without advantage (to either of two contestants); literally, hand to hand

Example Sentences

Their long awaited mano a mano could arrive as soon as Sunday at Aronimink, where they will tee off as the top two favorites.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

Sam Song Li is describing a scene from Netflix's dark action-comedy "The Brothers Sun," in which he and his onscreen brother played by Justin Chien are going mano a mano with . . . dinosaurs.

From Salon • Jan. 4, 2024

CEO Zuckerberg - whose social media platforms duke it out daily for advertising dollars - have been trading bluster about going mano a mano.

From Reuters • Jun. 22, 2023

A year later, Sylvester Stallone starred in “Rocky IV,” where Rocky and the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago went mano a mano for their countries.

From Washington Post • Mar. 10, 2022

And Ramsay doesn’t bite at Jon’s counteroffer to settle their conflict mano a mano.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2016