by fair means or foul
English
editPrepositional phrase
edit- By any means necessary, not excluding dirty tricks.
- Synonym: by hook or by crook
- 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, page 82:
- [Utterson] resumed; "if not by fair means, then by foul—if not of your consent, then by brute force!"
References
edit- “by fair means or foul”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “by fair means or foul”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “by fair means or foul” (US) / “by fair means or foul” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
- “by fair means or foul” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.