to the nth degree
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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.
QUIZZES
THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?
Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.
Question 1 of 8
Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?
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.