hammer and tongs

hammer and tongs

noun
with great vigor, determination, or vehemence: When he starts a job he goes at it hammer and tongs.

Origin:
1700–10


hard, energetically, fiercely, wholeheartedly.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Hammer and tongs is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

hammer and tongs

Forcefully, with great vigor. For example, She went at the weeds hammer and tongs, determined to clean out the long neglected flowerbed. Often put as go at it hammer and tongs, this phrase alludes to the blacksmith's tools. [c. 1700]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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