fair and square - Definitions from Dictionary.com

3 results for: fair and square

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fair1

Audio Help [fair] Pronunciation Key adjective, -er, -est, adverb, -er, -est, noun, verb

–adjective

1.	free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.

2.	legitimately sought, pursued, done, given, etc.; proper under the rules: a fair fight.

3.	moderately large; ample: a fair income.

4.	neither excellent nor poor; moderately or tolerably good: fair health.

5.	marked by favoring conditions; likely; promising: in a fair way to succeed.

Meteorology.

a.	(of the sky) bright; sunny; cloudless to half-cloudy.

b.	(of the weather) fine; with no prospect of rain, snow, or hail; not stormy.

7.	Nautical. (of a wind or tide) tending to aid the progress of a vessel.

8.	unobstructed; not blocked up: The way was fair for our advance.

9.	without irregularity or unevenness: a fair surface.

10.	free from blemish, imperfection, or anything that impairs the appearance, quality, or character: Her fair reputation was ruined by gossip.

11.	easy to read; clear: fair handwriting.

12.	of a light hue; not dark: fair skin.

13.	pleasing in appearance; attractive: a fair young maiden.

14.	seemingly good or sincere but not really so: The suitor beguiled his mistress with fair speeches.

15.	courteous; civil: fair words.

16.	Medicine/Medical. (of a patient's condition) having stable and normal vital signs and other favorable indicators, as appetite and mobility, but being in some discomfort and having the possibility of a worsening state.

17.	Dialect. scarcely; barely: It was just fair daylight when we started working.

–adverb

18.	in a fair manner: He doesn't play fair.

19.	straight; directly, as in aiming or hitting: He threw the ball fair to the goal.

20.	favorably; auspiciously.

21.	British, Australian. entirely; completely; quite: It happened so quickly that it fair took my breath away.

–noun

22.	Archaic. something that is fair.

23.

Archaic.

a woman.

b.	a beloved woman.

–verb (used with object)

24.	to make the connection or junction of (surfaces) smooth and even.

25.

Shipbuilding.

a.	to draw and adjust (the lines of a hull being designed) to produce regular surfaces of the correct form.

b.	to adjust the form of (a frame or templet) in accordance with a design, or cause it to conform to the general form of a hull.

c.	to restore (a bent plate or structural member) to its original form.

d.	to align (the frames of a vessel under construction) in proper position.

26.	to bring (rivet holes in connecting structural members) into perfect alignment.

27.	Obsolete. to make fair.

—Verb phrase

28.	fair off or up, South Midland and Southern U.S. (of the weather) to clear: It's supposed to fair off toward evening.

—Idioms

29.	bid fair, to seem likely: This entry bids fair to win first prize.

30.

fair and square,

a.	honestly; justly; straightforwardly: He won the race fair and square.

b.	honest; just; straightforward: He was admired for being fair and square in all his dealings.

31.	fair to middling, Informal. only tolerably good; so-so.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE fæger; c. OS, OHG fagar, ON fagr, Goth fagrs

]

—Related forms

fairness, noun

—Synonyms 1. Fair, impartial, disinterested, unprejudiced refer to lack of bias in opinions, judgments, etc. Fair implies the treating of all sides alike, justly and equitably: a fair compromise. Impartial, like fair, implies showing no more favor to one side than another, but suggests particularly a judicial consideration of a case: an impartial judge. Disinterested implies a fairness arising particularly from lack of desire to obtain a selfish advantage: The motives of her guardian were entirely disinterested. Unprejudiced means not influenced or swayed by bias, or by prejudice caused by irrelevant considerations: an unprejudiced decision. 4. passable, tolerable, average, middling. 8. open, clear, unencumbered. 10. clean, spotless, pure, untarnished, unsullied, unstained. 11. legible, distinct. 12. blond, pale. 13. pretty, comely, lovely. 15. polite, gracious.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
fair and square

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fair¹ Audio Help (fâr) Pronunciation Key
adj. fair·er, fair·est

Of pleasing appearance, especially because of a pure or fresh quality; comely.
1. Light in color, especially blond: fair hair.
2. Of light complexion: fair skin.
3. Having or exhibiting a disposition that is free of favoritism or bias; impartial: a fair mediator.
4. Just to all parties; equitable: a compromise that is fair to both factions.
Free of clouds or storms; clear and sunny: fair skies.
Free of blemishes or stains; clean and pure: one's fair name.
Promising; likely: We're in a fair way to succeed.
1. Having or exhibiting a disposition that is free of favoritism or bias; impartial: a fair mediator.
2. Just to all parties; equitable: a compromise that is fair to both factions.
Being in accordance with relative merit or significance: She wanted to receive her fair share of the proceeds.
Consistent with rules, logic, or ethics: a fair tactic.
Moderately good; acceptable or satisfactory: gave only a fair performance of the play; in fair health.
Superficially true or appealing; specious: Don't trust his fair promises.
Lawful to hunt or attack: fair game.
Archaic Free of all obstacles.

adv.

In a proper or legal manner: playing fair.
Directly; straight: a blow caught fair in the stomach.

tr.v. faired, fair·ing, fairs
To join (pieces) so as to be smooth, even, or regular: faired the aircraft's wing into the fuselage.

n.

Archaic A beautiful or beloved woman.
Obsolete Loveliness; beauty.

Phrasal Verb(s):
fair off/up Chiefly Southern U.S.
To become clear. Used of weather.

Idiom(s):
fair and square
Just and honest.

Idiom(s):
for fair
To the greatest or fullest extent possible: Our team was beaten for fair in that tournament.

Idiom(s):
no fair
Something contrary to the rules: That was no fair.

[Middle English, from Old English fæger, lovely, pleasant.]

fair'ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives mean free from favoritism, self-interest, or preference in judgment. Fair is the most general: a fair referee; a fair deal.
Just stresses conformity with what is legally or ethically right or proper: "a just and lasting peace" (Abraham Lincoln).
Equitable implies justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair: an equitable distribution of gifts among the children.
Impartial emphasizes lack of favoritism: "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge" (Edmund Burke).
Unprejudiced means without preconceived opinions or judgments: an unprejudiced evaluation of the proposal.
Unbiased implies absence of a preference or partiality: gave an unbiased account of her family problems.
Objective implies detachment that permits impersonal observation and judgment: an objective jury.
Dispassionate means free from or unaffected by strong emotions: a dispassionate reporter. See Also Synonyms at average, beautiful.

American folk speech puts Standard English to shame in its wealth of words for describing weather conditions. When the weather goes from fair to cloudy, New Englanders say that it's "breedin' up a storm" (Maine informant in the Linguistic Atlas of New England). If the weather is clear, however, a New Englander might call it open. Southern fair off and fair up, meaning "to become clear," were originally Northeastern terms and were brought to the South as settlement expanded southward and westward. They are now "regionalized to the South," according to Craig M. Carver, author of American Regional Dialects. These phrases may have prompted the coining of milding and milding down, noted respectively in Texas and Virginia by the Dictionary of American Regional English.

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Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fair and square

directly
Example: He hit him fair and square on the nose.

Arabic:	مُباشَرَةً
Chinese (Simplified):	正直
Chinese (Traditional):	正直
Czech:	rovnou
Danish:	direkte
Dutch:	regelrecht
Estonian:	otse
Finnish:	suoraan
French:	en plein
German:	ganz genau
Greek:	κατευθείαν
Hungarian:	pont, "rendesen"; szemébe
Icelandic:	beint
Indonesian:	tepat

Italian:	in pieno*
Japanese:	まともに
Latvian:	tieši; precīzi
Lithuanian:	tiesiai
Norwegian:	rett på
Polish:	prosto
Portuguese (Brazil):	em cheio
Portuguese (Portugal):	em cheio
Romanian:	drept, direct
Russian:	прямо
Slovak:	rovno
Slovenian:	naravnost
Swedish:	mitt, rakt, rätt
Turkish:	tam