Noah Sinclair
The phrase 'fight tooth and nail' means to use all of one's effort to win against someone or to overcome a problem. It can be used to describe a literal, physical fight or a metaphorical fight. The idiom dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild beast. Animals don't have weapons, so they fight with everything they've got: their teeth and nails.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Effort | Maximum |
| Fight | Literal or metaphorical |
| Origin | 1500s |
| Origin meaning | Fighting like a wild beast |
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What You'll Learn
The origin of the phrase
The phrase 'fight tooth and nail' comes from the descriptive imagery of a wild beast in a fierce battle, using its teeth and nails (or claws) as weapons. The original form of the phrase was 'with tooth and nail' and it was used in this way in the earliest known example in print, in Sir Thomas More's *In a Dialogue of Comfort and Tribulation* in 1535: 'They would fayne kepe them as long as euer they mighte, euen with tooth and nayle'.
The phrase alludes to the fights undertaken by wild animals when hunting prey. It is one of the older phrases in English that is still in everyday use. The idiom appears to stem from the ancient Latin phrase *toto corpore atque omnibus ungulis* (all the body and every nail). The earliest recorded use of this expression in print was in the 1560s, but the phrase didn't take off until the 1700s.
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Literal vs metaphorical usage
The phrase 'to fight tooth and nail' can be used both literally and metaphorically. Literally, it means to fight physically with all your effort, using your teeth and nails as weapons. This usage dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild animal, which has no weapons and so must use its teeth and claws.
Metaphorically, the phrase means to try very hard to achieve something or overcome a problem. You might fight tooth and nail to get something you want or to win an argument. For example, 'We fought tooth and nail to get the government to admit they were wrong'. Other verbs such as 'battle' or 'resist' can be used instead of 'fight' with the same meaning.
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Other variations of the phrase
The idiom 'to fight tooth and nail' means to use all your effort to win against someone or to overcome a problem. It can be used to describe a literal, physical fight or a metaphorical fight. The phrase dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild beast. Animals don't have weapons, so they fight with everything they've got: their teeth and nails.
You can also say that you are fighting 'tooth and claw' to achieve something. Other verbs such as 'battle' or 'resist' can be used instead of 'fight'. For example, 'we must battle tooth and nail for every one of them'.
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Examples of usage
The phrase 'fight tooth and nail' means to use all your effort to win against someone or to overcome a problem. It can be used to describe a literal, physical fight or a metaphorical fight. The idiom dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild beast. Animals don't have weapons, so they fight with everything they've got: their teeth and nails.
- Environmental groups are fighting tooth and nail to protect these forests.
- We fought tooth and nail to get these plans accepted.
- He fought tooth and nail for 15 months before going to sleep one final night last week.
- They fought tooth and nail to protect the solicitors' monopoly of conveyancing but eventually compromised by not objecting to licensed conveyancers.
- We had to fight tooth and nail to get the government to admit they were wrong.
- I will fight tooth and nail to get what I want.
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Synonyms
To fight tooth and nail means to use all your effort to win against someone or to overcome a problem. The idiom dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild beast. Animals don't have weapons, so they fight with everything they've got: their teeth and nails.
- To fight tooth and claw
- To battle tooth and nail
- To resist tooth and nail
- To try very hard
- To fight with fervour
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Frequently asked questions
To fight tooth and nail means to use all of your effort to win against someone or to overcome a problem.
The idiom dates back to the 1500s and comes from the idea of fighting like a wild beast. Animals don't have weapons, so they fight with everything they've got: their teeth and nails.
"We fought tooth and nail to get these plans accepted."
