Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

might and main

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.10 in modern English

Syllables: might and -main
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

With all one's strength; as hard as one can.

noun

All one's strength.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"[…] I found myself hanging on the skysail-yard, holding on might and main to the mast; and curling my feet round the rigging, as if they were another pair of hands."
"c.1890s, Giovanni Boccaccio, James McMullen Rigg (translator), The Decameron, Novel 1, 6, […] he strove might and main to pass himself off as a holy man […]"
"When the sunlight threads the pine-gloom he is fighting might and main / To clinch the rivets of an Empire down."
"with might and main"
"Mr. Winkle, catching sight of a lady's face at the window of the sedan, turned hastily round, plied the knocker with all his might and main, and called frantically upon the chairman to take the chair away again."
"Thinking that we were about to be taken up under the act for the suppression of vagrancy, we flew out of the house, sprang into a canoe before the door, and paddled with might and main over to the opposite side of the lake."

Etymology

A reduplication of two words meaning strength.

Usage

Uncountable

Phrases

horse and foot

Frequently Paired Words

horse and foot

Questions

What does might and main mean?: With all one's strength; as hard as one can.
Where does might and main come from?: A reduplication of two words meaning strength.

How to pronounce might and main

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