Tooth and nail
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
With every available means and the greatest possible determination, energy or ferocity. Usually follows fight, battle, resist or defend, but can modify other forms of intense competition. It implies total effort rather than literal physical violence. Regional use: Sixteenth-century English; now international English.
Origin
The expression evokes a creature or person fighting with the most basic natural weapons available: teeth and fingernails or claws. Phrase Finder locates with tooth and nayle in Sir Thomas More's Dialogue of Comfort, written around 1535, while Merriam-Webster gives 1550 as its first-known-use date. The difference reflects how reference works date surviving texts, not two separate inventions. The image was therefore established by the mid-sixteenth century, but the earliest located example does not identify a coiner.
Research Sources
Variants
- Fight tooth and nail
- With tooth and nail
Usage Examples
- Residents fought tooth and nail to keep the rural bus route operating.
- The champion defended her title tooth and nail throughout the final round.
- Both departments competed tooth and nail for the remaining research funds.