Hail Maryphr.n.
1. The angelic salutation (cf. Luke i. 58) = Latin Ave Maria.
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society > faith > worship > prayer > kinds of prayer > [noun] > Ave Maria
ave?c1225
Ave Maria?c1225
Hail Mary1340
the Angelic(al) salutation?c1600
1340 Ayenb. 262 Hayl Marie of þonke uol, lhord by mid þe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 10837 ‘Hail maria’, said he, ‘ful o grace.’
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. iv. App. f. 193 Hail Marie ful of grace, our lord is with ye.
2. As a devotional recitation = Ave Mary (see Ave Maria n.).
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c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 111 First men seien, Heil, Marie.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. E4v With fasting and praying, And Haile Marie saying.
1852 F. W. Faber Jesus & Mary (ed. 2) 130 By the picture Lucy loves Hail-Maries will we say.
1881 G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine vi. 32 I am just going to say Hail Marys all the time.
Draft additions December 2004
Chiefly North American Sport. A desperate play or manoeuvre having a very low likelihood of success; (American Football) a long pass thrown into or near the end zone by a losing team as time is running out. Chiefly attributive.
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1972 Sporting 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.’
1982 Washington 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.
1991 New Yorker 16 Sept. 81/2 Davies saved one game point with a Hail Mary lob into the grille.
1992 Sports 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.
2003 Wall 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.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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phr.n.1340