"with a will" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From with + a + will (“firmity of purpose, fixity of intent”), originally often used to refer to rowing a boat vigorously.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "with a will",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "with a will",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Finnish links with redundant wikilinks",
          "parents": [
            "Links with redundant wikilinks",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Nautical",
          "orig": "en:Nautical",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1827 November 27, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter VIII, in The Red Rover, […], volume III, Paris: […] [Lachevardiere] for Hector Bossange, […], →OCLC, page 179:",
          "text": "«Yes!» muttered the Rover, with bitter irony, as his boat rowed under the stern of the cruiser of the Crown; «yes! I, and my officers, will taste of your banquet! But the viands shall be such as these hirelings of the King shall little relish!—Pull with a will, my men, pull; in an hour, you shall rummage the store-rooms of that fool, for your reward!»",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1859 July 16, Alfred Tennyson, “The Grandmother”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], published 1864, →OCLC, stanza XV, page 121:",
          "text": "So Willy and I were wedded: I wore a lilac gown; / And the ringers rang with a will, and he gave the ringers a crown.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1866, John Ruskin, “Lecture I. Work. (Delivered before the Working Men’s Institute, at Camberwell.)”, in The Crown of Wild Olive. Three Lectures on Work, Traffic, and War, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 44:",
          "text": "Now, nobody does anything well that they cannot help doing: work is only done well when it is done with a will; and no man has a thoroughly sound will unless he knows he is doing what he should, and is in his place.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1874, Thomas Hardy, “Adventures by the Shore”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 208:",
          "text": "Swimming with his right arm, he held up his left to hail them, splashing upon the waves, and shouting with all his might. […] Backing their oars and putting the boat about, they pulled towards him with a will, and in five or six minutes from the time of his first halloo, two of the sailors hauled him in over the stern.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Voyage”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), pages 77–78:",
          "text": "And then the whole crew bore chorus:— / \"Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!\" / And at the third \"ho!\" drove the bars before them with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1884 May (date written), Robert Louis Stevenson, “Requiem”, in Underwoods, London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1887, →OCLC, book I (In English), page 43:",
          "text": "Under the wide and starry sky, / Dig the grave and let me lie. / Glad did I live and gladly die, / And I laid me down with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “After the Race”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 56:",
          "text": "Then an impromptu square dance, the men devising original figures. What merriment! Jimmy took his part with a will; this was seeing life, at least.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934 March 26, “Books: Hurstwurst [review of Anitra’s Dance (1934) by Fannie Hurst]”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-24, page 70:",
          "text": "Many a reader whose appetite rejoices in hearty fare tucked in his napkin, smacked his lips and fell to with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, Anita Desai, chapter 9, in The Village by the Sea, New Delhi; New York, N.Y.: Puffin Books, published 1992, →ISBN, page 174:",
          "text": "He got Jagu's permission to spend the slack afternoon hours at the watchmender's without any trouble – Jagu was taciturn, but good-natured – and he set to learning the craft with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With willingness and zeal; with all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily."
      ],
      "id": "en-with_a_will-en-prep_phrase-fG-d8dma",
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "willingness",
          "willingness"
        ],
        [
          "zeal",
          "zeal"
        ],
        [
          "heart",
          "heart#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "strength",
          "strength"
        ],
        [
          "earnestly",
          "earnestly"
        ],
        [
          "heartily",
          "heartily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, originally nautical, dated) With willingness and zeal; with all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "where there is a will there is a way"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "resolutely"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "with willingness and zeal — see also earnestly, heartily",
          "word": "innolla"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌwɪθ‿ə ˈwɪl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-with a will.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a3/En-au-with_a_will.ogg/En-au-with_a_will.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/En-au-with_a_will.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "with a will"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From with + a + will (“firmity of purpose, fixity of intent”), originally often used to refer to rowing a boat vigorously.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "with a will",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "with a will",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "where there is a will there is a way"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English alliterative phrases",
        "English dated terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Finnish links with redundant wikilinks",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Rhymes:English/ɪl",
        "Rhymes:English/ɪl/3 syllables",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "en:Nautical"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1827 November 27, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter VIII, in The Red Rover, […], volume III, Paris: […] [Lachevardiere] for Hector Bossange, […], →OCLC, page 179:",
          "text": "«Yes!» muttered the Rover, with bitter irony, as his boat rowed under the stern of the cruiser of the Crown; «yes! I, and my officers, will taste of your banquet! But the viands shall be such as these hirelings of the King shall little relish!—Pull with a will, my men, pull; in an hour, you shall rummage the store-rooms of that fool, for your reward!»",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1859 July 16, Alfred Tennyson, “The Grandmother”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], published 1864, →OCLC, stanza XV, page 121:",
          "text": "So Willy and I were wedded: I wore a lilac gown; / And the ringers rang with a will, and he gave the ringers a crown.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1866, John Ruskin, “Lecture I. Work. (Delivered before the Working Men’s Institute, at Camberwell.)”, in The Crown of Wild Olive. Three Lectures on Work, Traffic, and War, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 44:",
          "text": "Now, nobody does anything well that they cannot help doing: work is only done well when it is done with a will; and no man has a thoroughly sound will unless he knows he is doing what he should, and is in his place.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1874, Thomas Hardy, “Adventures by the Shore”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 208:",
          "text": "Swimming with his right arm, he held up his left to hail them, splashing upon the waves, and shouting with all his might. […] Backing their oars and putting the boat about, they pulled towards him with a will, and in five or six minutes from the time of his first halloo, two of the sailors hauled him in over the stern.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Voyage”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook), pages 77–78:",
          "text": "And then the whole crew bore chorus:— / \"Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!\" / And at the third \"ho!\" drove the bars before them with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1884 May (date written), Robert Louis Stevenson, “Requiem”, in Underwoods, London: Chatto and Windus, […], published 1887, →OCLC, book I (In English), page 43:",
          "text": "Under the wide and starry sky, / Dig the grave and let me lie. / Glad did I live and gladly die, / And I laid me down with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “After the Race”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 56:",
          "text": "Then an impromptu square dance, the men devising original figures. What merriment! Jimmy took his part with a will; this was seeing life, at least.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934 March 26, “Books: Hurstwurst [review of Anitra’s Dance (1934) by Fannie Hurst]”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-24, page 70:",
          "text": "Many a reader whose appetite rejoices in hearty fare tucked in his napkin, smacked his lips and fell to with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, Anita Desai, chapter 9, in The Village by the Sea, New Delhi; New York, N.Y.: Puffin Books, published 1992, →ISBN, page 174:",
          "text": "He got Jagu's permission to spend the slack afternoon hours at the watchmender's without any trouble – Jagu was taciturn, but good-natured – and he set to learning the craft with a will.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With willingness and zeal; with all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "nautical",
          "nautical"
        ],
        [
          "willingness",
          "willingness"
        ],
        [
          "zeal",
          "zeal"
        ],
        [
          "heart",
          "heart#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "strength",
          "strength"
        ],
        [
          "earnestly",
          "earnestly"
        ],
        [
          "heartily",
          "heartily"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, originally nautical, dated) With willingness and zeal; with all one's heart or strength; earnestly, heartily."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "resolutely"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌwɪθ‿ə ˈwɪl/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-with a will.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a3/En-au-with_a_will.ogg/En-au-with_a_will.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/En-au-with_a_will.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪl"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "with willingness and zeal — see also earnestly, heartily",
      "word": "innolla"
    }
  ],
  "word": "with a will"
}