to the hilt
12
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
- My youngest and I decorated the house to the hilt and had a blast shopping for gifts.
- played to the hilt
- mortgaged to the hilt
- borrowed to the hilt
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Watch on YouTubeIt's leverage to the hilt all the way down.
- It's leverage to the hilt all the way down.
- They don't want to just borrow to the hilt like we do.
- They are both complex and entitled to experience their emotions to the hilt.
Examples
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As long as this town is decorated to the hilt...
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You'd be entirely within your rights if you pursued this to the hilt.
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Take it up to the hilt!
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We're nearly up to the hilt already.
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Back him to the hilt.
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Might as well play this to the hilt.
Fiction book (1991) -
I'm mortgaged to the hilt.
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The house is mortgaged up to the hilt, and my Social Security payments expire when I do.
Fiction book (1999) -
Look, okay, I owe just under 250,000 euro and that's with everything leveraged to the hilt!
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Every house on Maple Street was lit to the hilt with Christmas lights.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Completely, with nothing left out
31
3.9
Do something as fully as possible
28
7.7
As much as possible
16
3.6
It happens with great strength and many people taking part
15
8.0
To a very great degree
6
6.1
Very extreme in every way
3
6.2
As much as possible
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
to + the + hilt
The sense 'completely' is a metaphorical extension of the literal image 'up to the hilt' (i.e., up to the sword's handle), so part of the meaning is predictable from the constituents. However, the noun 'hilt' is relatively low-frequency and the figurative shift to 'the greatest possible extent' is not fully compositional for learners, making it only partially obvious.
Etymology
To the hilt comes from swords: the hilt is the handle, and when a sword is pushed in up to the hilt there is nothing left to push. That's why it now means 'completely' or 'fully'.