hell or high water

noun

Highly adverse circumstances; acts of God.

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Meanings

noun
  1. idiomaticHighly adverse circumstances; acts of God.

    Corn had to be hoed three times and plowed five in spite of hell or high water

    2002, John Foster West, Time Was, page 230
    2 more examples

    Even though sportswriters are supposed to be impartial, I'm a Brooklyn boyo and Dodger fan through hell or high water, so my beer is Schaefer.

    1998, Charles Rosen, Barney Polan's Game: A Novel of the 1951 College Basketball Scandals, page 11

    Bankers call this a hell-or-high-water deal because it protects the buyer from the directors and offers from other bidders.

    1999, Aaron Bernstein, Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines, page 44
interjection
  1. No matter what the adverse circumstances.

    I am a man of my word, hell or high water.

    1987, James A. Michener, Texas, page 1040
adverbhell or high water (not comparable)
  1. not comparableNo matter what the adverse circumstances.

    "The barn goes down tomorrow, rain or shine, hell or high water, with your cooperation or without it."

    1992, Barbara Michaels, Vanish With the Rose, page 195
Cite this entry
APA

hell or high water. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20or%20high%20water

MLA

“hell or high water.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20or%20high%20water. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell or high water,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20or%20high%20water.

Source: hell or high water on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.