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tooth and nail
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adverb
with all one's resources or energy; fiercely: We fought tooth and nail but lost.
QUIZ
ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ
There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!
Question 1 of 7
True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.
Origin of tooth and nail
First recorded in 1525–35
Words nearby tooth and nail
tooshie, toot, tooth, toothache, toothache tree, tooth and nail, tooth ax, toothbrush, toothbrushing, tooth chisel, tooth decay
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use tooth and nail in a sentence
Cultural definitions for tooth and nail
tooth and nail
To fight “tooth and nail” is to fight with the intensity and ferocity of a wild animal: “The resistance forces fought the invading troops tooth and nail.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.