| 释义 |
Hail Mary, phr. and n.
1. The angelic salutation (cf. Luke i. 58) = L. Ave Maria.
a1300Cursor M. 10837 ‘Hail maria’, said he, ‘ful o grace.’ 1340Ayenb. 262 Hayl Marie of þonke uol, lhord by mid þe. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 273 Hail Marie ful of grace, our lord is with the.
2. As a devotional recitation = Ave Mary.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 111 First men seien, Heil, Marie. 1591Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 50 With fasting and praying, And Haile Marie saying. 1860Faber Hymn, Flowers for the Altar vi, By the picture Lucy loves Hail-Maries will we say. 1881G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine vi. 32, I am just going to say Hail Marys all the time.
▸ Chiefly N. Amer. Sport. A desperate play or manoeuvre having a very low likelihood of success; (Amer. Football) a long pass thrown into or near the end zone by a losing team as time is running out. Chiefly attrib.
1972Sporting News 15 Jan. 8/2, I asked if he really saw Pat or if he was throwing it away. He [sc. Roger Staubach] said, ‘Let's just call it my Hail Mary Play.’ 1982Washington Post 15 Oct. d6/1 Take away a couple of freak plays, like..that Hail Mary touchdown pass when the referee got in the way of the pass rush, and the stats would tell a different story. 1991New Yorker 16 Sept. 81/2 Davies saved one game point with a Hail Mary lob into the grille. 1992Sports Illustr. 31 Aug. 48/1 Notre Dame has had a series of pseudotackles with both the speed and the hands to pull down the Hail Marys. 2003Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Sept. a20/2 Companies were hungry for a way to be popular with investors without putting all their chips on Hail Mary strategies to boost their stock prices. |