go to the mattresses

verb

To go to war; to use ruthless tactics; to act without restraint.

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Meanings

verbgo to the mattresses (third-person singular simple present goes to the mattresses, present participle going to the mattresses, simple past went to the mattresses, past participle gone to the mattresses)

present singular third person goes to the mattresses · participle present going to the mattresses · past went to the mattresses · participle past gone to the mattresses

  1. idiomaticTo go to war; to use ruthless tactics; to act without restraint.

    I want Sollozzo. If not, it's all-out war. We'll go to the mattresses.

    1969, Mario Puzo, The Godfather, Putnam, page 132
    2 more examples

    They will have to go to the mattresses; that is they will have to risk a long ugly strike.

    1988 December 18, Glen Waggoner, “Sports: Collusion Is Over, but Excess Is Back”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Sep 2008

    Now, when you're fighting Republicans . . . Democrats are all rallied around and ready to go ahead and go to the mattresses.

    2008, "Transcript: CNN LARRY KING LIVE—Interview with Senator Hillary Clinton," CNN analyst Jamal Simmons speaking, 21 Apr.

Origin

From Mario Puzo's gangster novel The Godfather (1969). Those involved in such a conflict might be expected to stay in hideouts where they would sleep on mattresses rather than in beds.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

go to the mattresses. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20to%20the%20mattresses

MLA

“go to the mattresses.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20to%20the%20mattresses. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go to the mattresses,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20to%20the%20mattresses.

Source: go to the mattresses on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.