Lexic.us

Definition of Like hell

1. Adverb. With great speed or effort or intensity. "Fought like the devil"

2. Adverb. Used ironically to indicate the opposite of what is stated. "Says he'll help me? Like hell he will!"

Definition of Like hell

1. Prepositional phrase. (context: intensifier) In a manner that uses all of the strength, speed, or effort that a person can summon. ¹

2. Prepositional phrase. Used ironically to express the opposite of one's intentions ¹

3. Prepositional phrase. Bad or badly. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Like Hell

like as if like blue murder like cheese at fourpence like clockwork like crack like crazy like death warmed over like death warmed up like falling off a log like father, like son

like feeding time at the zoo like fun like gangbusters like heck like hell (current term) like hot cakes like it's going out of style like it or lump it like kings like like

like mad like new like nobody's business like one's life depended on it like pigs in clover like rats from a sinking ship like riding a bike like rolling off a log like royalty

Literary usage of Like hell

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Beach-la-mar: The Jargon Or Trade Speech of the Western Pacific by William Churchill (1911)
"V 254. hell cf. go-to-hell. wail like hell: to be angry. R 115. cry like hell. V 254. they fright like hell. L 363. get to hell. L 364. make hell of a noise ..."

2. I, Mary MacLane: A Diary of Human Days by Mary MacLane (1917)
"'like hell they are,' said Frank. 'Say-Frank, my grandfather in Illinois 's got ... 'like hell it does,' said Frank. 'Say-Frank, it ain'ta felony to croak a ..."

3. Memoirs of the Life of Thomas Paine: With Observations on His Writings by W. T. Sherwin (1819)
"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered: yet we have this consolation with us, that the * In the edition of Paine's political works recently published, ..."

4. The Red Badge of Courage and Four Stories by Stephen Crane (1997)
"... he ses, ‘Your fellers ‘11 all run like hell when they onct hearn a gun,' he ses. ‘Mebbe they will,' I ses, ‘but I don't b'lieve none of it,' I ses; ..."

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