Hail Mary

noun

plural Hail Marys

1

: a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary that consists of salutations and a plea for her intercession

2

or less commonly Hail Mary pass : a long forward pass in football thrown into or near the end zone in a last-ditch attempt to score as time runs out

—often used figuratively

The only potential cure is a stem-cell transplant, when you take somebody else's immune system and put it into yours. But right now that's kind of a Hail Mary pass.

—Douglas Cote, quoted in Bicycling

Examples of Hail Mary in a Sentence

He threw up a Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

Recent Examples on the Web

But their final four drives of the first half were an interception, a three-and-out, a three-and-out and then one more interception on a Hail Mary attempt. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2024

Lost in the craziness of Daniels' game-winning Hail Mary was the fact that the Bears offense could not move the ball in that contest. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Fans will have to keep the faith until Sunday, hoping for a Hail Mary, to see if the pope's blessing pays off on the field as the Saints play against the Atlanta Falcons. —Marlene Lenthang, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2024

Still, the argument can also easily be made that the Bears never fully recovered from the Hail Mary knockout blow Jayden Daniels hit them with seven days earlier. —Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

translation of Medieval Latin Ave, Maria, from the opening words

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

Hail Mary

noun

-ˈme(ə)r-ē,

-ˈma(ə)r-ē,

-ˈmā-rē

: a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary