neck or nothing

English

Etymology

Originally a steeplechase phrase. Desperate. A racing phrase; to win by a neck or to be nowhere—i.e. not counted at all because unworthy of notice.

Adverb

neck or nothing (not comparable)

1. At all risks.
   • 1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 45:

     It is a neck-or-nothing venture to wrest valuable merchandise traffic from road transport.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “neck or nothing”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)