by fair means or foul

prepositional phrase

By any means necessary, not excluding dirty tricks.

Similar
by hook or by crook
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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. By any means necessary, not excluding dirty tricks.

    [Utterson] resumed; "if not by fair means, then by foul—if not of your consent, then by brute force!"

    1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, page 82

    Synonyms: by hook or by crook

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseBy any means necessary, not excluding dirty tricks.

Similar
by hook or by crook
Also see
by hook or by crook
Cite this entry
APA

by fair means or foul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20fair%20means%20or%20foul

MLA

“by fair means or foul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20fair%20means%20or%20foul. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by fair means or foul,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20fair%20means%20or%20foul.

Source: by fair means or foul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.