prayer
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Related to prayer: The Lord's Prayer
be in (one's) prayers
To be the object of one's sympathy and concern. Used especially in reference to someone who has just suffered a tragic loss or is otherwise experiencing a painful or challenging time. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, Ellen. You're in my prayers. A: "I can't believe the Millers' house burned down." B: "I know, it's horrible. They're in all of our prayers." I heard about your husband's illness. Please know that he's in our prayers.
See also: prayer
have a prayer
To not have any chance at all of doing or achieving something. Almost always used in the negative. With that giant supermarket opening up across the street, our little grocery store won't have a prayer of staying open. You think you can beat me? Ha! You don't have a prayer. If you ask me, this scrawny newcomer doesn't have a prayer of winning his wrestling match.
in (one's) prayers
A phrase often used to express one's sympathy for someone else, especially someone who has just suffered a tragic loss or is otherwise experiencing a painful or challenging time. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, Ellen. You're in my prayers. A: "I can't believe the Millers' house burned down." B: "I know, it's horrible. We're keeping them all in our prayers." I heard about your husband's illness. Please know that he's in our prayers.
See also: prayer
not a hope in hell
Absolutely no possibility of succeeding, coming to pass, or achieving something. There's not a hope in hell that you'll find me living in this town after I graduate.
not a prayer
Little or no chance or possibility (of succeeding, coming to pass, or achieving something). There's not a prayer of them getting into the playoffs this year. A: "Do you think there's any chance they'll convict the CEO?" B: "Not a prayer—he's too rich and powerful."
not have a prayer
To be completely impossible or incredibly unlikely; to have no chance whatsoever. With the way that the other team has been playing, I'm afraid our guys don't have a prayer. That bill doesn't have a prayer of passing.
on a hope and a prayer
With the hope of a positive outcome despite little chance of success. I didn't have time to edit my term paper, so I just submitted it on a hope and a prayer. Businesses in the new mall are opening on a hope and a prayer that customers will start arriving soon.
on a wing and a prayer
With the hope of a positive outcome despite little chance of success. I didn't have time to edit my term paper, so I just submitted it on a wing and a prayer. Businesses in the new mall are opening on a hope and a prayer that customers will start arriving soon.
prayer bones
One's knees, as it is most common to prayer while kneeling. Sometimes written as one word. I was down on my prayer bones all night asking God for advice on what to do. Church has always been a regular fixture of this community, getting together each Sunday and getting down on our prayer bones together.
the answer to a maiden's prayer
1. obsolete An eligible bachelor, especially one of stable means or good character; a man who would be ideal for a young woman to marry. The handsome young gentleman dismounted his horse. He was courteous, well educated, and wealthy—the answer to a maiden's prayer, to be sure.
2. An ideal or seemingly miraculous solution to some problem or predicament. The oil industry is touting the new technology as a way to preserve the environment without giving up fossil fuels, but can it really be the answer to a maiden's prayer?
the/an answer to (one's) prayer(s)
The perfect solution to a desperate need. Can be used literally (when one has actually prayed) or in a more figurative sense. I really believed this job was the answer to my prayer for a better life. This grant is an answer to our prayers. The center can stay open now!
the/an answer to all (of) (one's) problems
The perfect or ideal solution to one's needs or difficulties. I really believed this job was the answer to all my problems, but I'm two weeks in and I still feel dissatisfied with my life. This federal arts grant could be an answer to all of our problems. If they give it to us, we will no longer have to worry about how we'll pay for the theater's rent.
thoughts and prayers
A phrase often used as part of an attempt to comfort someone who has just suffered a tragic loss, as in, "Our thoughts and prayers are with you." The frequent use of the phrase or similar expressions by politicians after mass shootings in the US has increasingly been criticized by those who believe it is used to avoid pursuing tangible actions, notably changes to gun laws. You can keep your thoughts and prayers, senator—they won't give me my sister back.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
in someone's prayers
[of someone] remembered and called by name when someone prays. I am sorry to hear of your sickness. You will be in our prayers. The whole family is in my prayers because they have suffered so much.
See also: prayer
*on a wing and a prayer
Fig. to arrive or fly in with one's plane in very bad condition. (Sometimes used fig. of other vehicles. *Typically: come (in) ~; arrive ~.) Finally we could see the plane through the smoke, coming in on a wing and a prayer.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
not a hope in hell
Also, not a prayer. No chance at all, as in There's not a hope in hell that we have a winning bid, or If you don't watch the conductor you won't have a prayer of coming in on time. The first term was first recorded in 1923, the second in 1941. Both allude to the chance for heavenly salvation. Also see snowball's chance in hell.
prayer, not a
see under not a hope in hell.
See also: not
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
not have a prayer
If you say that someone does not have a prayer, you mean that it is impossible for them to achieve something. The team was on such good form, their opponents didn't have a prayer. He did not seem to have a prayer of regaining the world title.
on a wing and a prayer
If you do something on a wing and a prayer, you do it in the hope that you will succeed, even though you do not have what you need to do it. Dozens of airlines have entered the industry on a wing and a prayer, and dozens have gone bankrupt. In the past, teams have been run on a wing and a prayer. Note: This is the title of a song by H. Adamson, written in 1943, which referred to the emergency landing of an aircraft: `Tho' there's one motor gone, we can still carry on, Comin' In On A Wing And A Pray'r.'
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
not a hope (or chance) in hell
no hope (or chance) at all. informalAn elaboration of this phrase is not a snowball's chance in hell .
not have a prayer
have no chance at all of succeeding at something. informal 1998 Oldie Show them you can re-programme the computer to eliminate the Millennium Problem and you are in. Confess that you don't even know how to turn it on, and you haven't a prayer.
on a wing and a prayer
with only the slightest chance of success.This expression comes from the title of a 1943 song by the American songwriter Harold Adamson , ‘Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer’. He himself took it from a contemporary comment made by a wartime pilot speaking to ground control before making an emergency landing.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
the ˌanswer to somebody’s ˈprayers
a thing or a person that somebody has waited for or wanted for a long time: If you’ve been looking for a good quality fleece at a reasonable price, this one could be the answer to your prayers.not have a ˈprayer (of doing something)
have no chance of succeeding: She’s done no work at all this term, so she doesn’t have a prayer of passing her exams.on a ˌwing and a ˈprayer
with only a very slight chance of success: He started the business in his own home, on a wing and a prayer, but it looks like he’s really going to make a success of it.This expression was first used in the military to describe how pilots flying very badly damaged planes succeeded in returning to base.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
not a hope in hell
No chance at all. This term, with such variations as not a snowball’s chance in hell, has been used since the early twentieth century. The OED cites O. Onions, Peace in Our Time (1923), as its first appearance in print: “‘I rather fancied Lovelightly.’—‘Lovelightly? Not a hope in Hell!’”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer