"come hell or high water" meaning in English

See come hell or high water in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: en-au-come hell or high water.ogg
Etymology: In reference to the dangers of hell and stormy seas or floods. Head templates: {{head|en|adverb|head=come hell or high water}} come hell or high water
  1. (slang, idiomatic, somewhat vulgar) Regardless of the hardships; no matter what difficulties may arise. Tags: idiomatic, slang, vulgar Synonyms: come what may, rain or shine, no matter what Translations (regardless of the hardships): med djævelens vold og magt (Danish), koste hvad det være (Danish), wat er zich ook voordoet (Dutch), kävi miten kävi (Finnish), coûte que coûte (French), à tout prix (French), quoi qu’il arrive (French), koste es was es wolle (German), tűzön-vízen át (Hungarian), ha esik, ha fúj (Hungarian), cascasse il cielo (Italian), cascasse il mondo (Italian), succeda quel che succeda (Italian), 雨が降ろうと槍が降ろうと (Japanese), 雨が降ろうが槍が降ろうが (Japanese), but see choćby się waliło i paliło (Polish), żeby się waliło i paliło (Polish), faça chuva ou faça sol (Portuguese), во что́ бы то ни ста́ло (vo štó by to ni stálo) (Russian)
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Lord willing and the creek don't rise"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the dangers of hell and stormy seas or floods.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "adverb",
        "head": "come hell or high water"
      },
      "expansion": "come hell or high water",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
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          "kind": "other",
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      "examples": [
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          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              68,
              91
            ]
          ],
          "text": "The pioneers were determined to build a community in the wilderness come hell or high water.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              123,
              146
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          ],
          "ref": "1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:",
          "text": "Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Regardless of the hardships; no matter what difficulties may arise."
      ],
      "id": "en-come_hell_or_high_water-en-adv-kFZra7UJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "Regardless",
          "regardless"
        ],
        [
          "hardship",
          "hardship"
        ],
        [
          "difficulties",
          "difficulty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, idiomatic, somewhat vulgar) Regardless of the hardships; no matter what difficulties may arise."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "come what may"
        },
        {
          "word": "rain or shine"
        },
        {
          "word": "no matter what"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "med djævelens vold og magt"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "koste hvad det være"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "wat er zich ook voordoet"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "kävi miten kävi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "coûte que coûte"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "à tout prix"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "quoi qu’il arrive"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "koste es was es wolle"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "tűzön-vízen át"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "ha esik, ha fúj"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "cascasse il cielo"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "cascasse il mondo"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "succeda quel che succeda"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "雨が降ろうと槍が降ろうと"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "雨が降ろうが槍が降ろうが"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "note": "no equivalent term in Polish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "but see choćby się waliło i paliło"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "żeby się waliło i paliło"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "faça chuva ou faça sol"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "vo štó by to ni stálo",
          "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
          "word": "во что́ бы то ни ста́ло"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "audio": "en-au-come hell or high water.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/02/En-au-come_hell_or_high_water.ogg/En-au-come_hell_or_high_water.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/En-au-come_hell_or_high_water.ogg"
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  ],
  "word": "come hell or high water"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Lord willing and the creek don't rise"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "In reference to the dangers of hell and stormy seas or floods.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "name": "head"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
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        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
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          "text": "The pioneers were determined to build a community in the wilderness come hell or high water.",
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          "ref": "1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:",
          "text": "Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.",
          "type": "quote"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Regardless of the hardships; no matter what difficulties may arise."
      ],
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          "regardless"
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          "hardship"
        ],
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          "difficulty"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(slang, idiomatic, somewhat vulgar) Regardless of the hardships; no matter what difficulties may arise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "come what may"
    },
    {
      "word": "rain or shine"
    },
    {
      "word": "no matter what"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "med djævelens vold og magt"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "koste hvad det være"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "wat er zich ook voordoet"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "kävi miten kävi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "coûte que coûte"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "à tout prix"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "quoi qu’il arrive"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "koste es was es wolle"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "tűzön-vízen át"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "ha esik, ha fúj"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "cascasse il cielo"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "cascasse il mondo"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "succeda quel che succeda"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "雨が降ろうと槍が降ろうと"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "雨が降ろうが槍が降ろうが"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "note": "no equivalent term in Polish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "but see choćby się waliło i paliło"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "żeby się waliło i paliło"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "faça chuva ou faça sol"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "vo štó by to ni stálo",
      "sense": "regardless of the hardships",
      "word": "во что́ бы то ни ста́ло"
    }
  ],
  "word": "come hell or high water"
}

Download raw JSONL data for come hell or high water meaning in English (4.5kB)

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  "subsection": "adverb",
  "title": "come hell or high water",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-01 using wiktextract (89ebc88 and e74c913). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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