Wiktionary

Hail Mary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English Heil Marie.

Noun

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Hail Mary (plural Hail Marys or Hail Maries)

  1. (Christianity) A prayer calling for the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
    Synonyms: angelic salutation, ave, Ave Maria
    • 1872, F. A., chapter V, in Marion Howard; or Trials and Triumphs, Philadelphia: Peter F. Cunningham, […], page 100:
      “What did the priest, and all of you, keep on saying when we first went in?” / “Our Fathers, Hail Maries, and Glorias; couldn’t you hear?” asked Emily, laughing. / “No, I should think not, you rattled on so fast- What are Hail Maries and Glorias?” / “The Gloria you know well enough, my dear, because you say it in your church at the end of every psalm,” replied Miss Horton; “the Hail Mary is a prayer to our Blessed Lady,” and she repeated it.
    • 1987, Gary Clark (lyrics and music), “Mary's Prayer”, performed by Danny Wilson:
      And if I say ten Hail Marys / Leave a light on in Heaven for me
  2. (figurative, usually attributive, US) A risky last-ditch effort with great benefit but little chance of success; one whose success would require divine intervention; a Hail Mary pass.
    Hail Mary deal
    • 2015, Nathaniel Popper, chapter 6, in Digital Gold, 1st edition, New York: Harper, →ISBN, →OCLC:
      Silk Road was, in some sense, a last heave—a Hail Mary in the parlance of Ross's football-mad hometown.
    • 2017 June 13, Natasha Geiling, “Trump administration files Hail Mary appeal to derail youth climate lawsuit”, in ThinkProgress‎[1]:
      Trump administration files Hail Mary appeal to derail youth climate lawsuit [title]
    • 2018 February 23, Janko Roettgers, “Twitter’s Annual Report Reveals That Its $70 Million SoundCloud Investment Was a Bust”, in Variety‎[2]:
      SoundCloud finally secured a Hail Mary deal that included $170 million of new funding from the Raine Group and Singapore’s Temasek in August of 2017.
    • 2020 August 30, Ernesto Londoño, quoting Rudy Gonsior, “‘A Hail Mary’: Psychedelic Therapy Draws Veterans to Jungle Retreats”, in The New York Times‎[3]:
      “I have traveled across continents to come to the jungle to do psychedelics,” marveled Mr. Gonsior, who had steered clear from drugs his whole life. “I guess this is what might be considered a Hail Mary.”
    • 2022 December 29, Brian Merchant, “The End of the Silicon Valley Myth”, in The Atlantic‎[4]:
      With each passing day, Facebook’s metaverse aspirations look more like a Hail Mary fantasy, a beleaguered CEO’s escape attempt to a 3-D virtual world where he might leave behind the misery of his dull 2-D version.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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Hail Mary (third-person singular simple present Hail Marys, present participle Hail Marying, simple past and past participle Hail Maryed)

  1. (often reflexive) To pray by saying a Hail Mary.
    • 2003, Ray Cranley, Chip Chop Cherry, →ISBN, page 120:
      He Hail Maryed himself to sleep every night and woke up Hail Marying in the morning, and to his amazement and delight it worked.
    • 2015, Pamela DuMond, The Assassin:
      Sister Cecilia Hail Maryed herself and slid back in the room.
    • 2018, Gregory Phillip Jones, 51 Years of Bipolar Disease: A Survivor's Story, →ISBN, page 168:
      I can just imagine a medical examiner standing beside my corpse, pulling the sheet back so as to expose my head and torso, and explaining to a detective, “This poor man Hail Maryed himself to death!”

Further reading

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