go at it hammer and tongs



Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!

go at it hammer and tongs

To do something or perform some task with tremendous fervor, determination, energy, or forcefulness. An allusion to the force with which a blacksmith strikes metal using his or her hammer and tongs. What started as a minor disagreement has escalated into a heated argument, and the two have been going at it hammer and tongs ever since. I need to go at this paper hammer and tongs if I want to keep my A in the class.
See also: and, hammer, tongs

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Emeliai-MEE-lee-ə, i-MEEL-yəEnglish
Athanasi-Medieval Slavic
FachtnaFAKHT-naIrish, Irish Mythology
GÜLten-Turkish
BayleeBAY-leeEnglish (Modern)
PacÍFicapah-THEE-fee-kah (Spanish), pah-SEE-fee-kah (Latin American Spanish)Spanish