to the nth degree
Save This Word!
To the utmost, as in They'd decked out the house to the nth degree. This expression comes from mathematics, where to the nth means “to any required power” (n standing for any number). It was first recorded in 1852.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Words nearby to the nth degree
to the letter, to the life, To the Lighthouse, to the manner born, to the nines, to the nth degree, to the point, tother, to the teeth, to the tune of, to the victor belong the spoils
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.