fair and square

English

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Adverb

fair and square (comparative more fair and square, superlative most fair and square)

1. Totally fairly and undoubtedly.

   We won the game fair and square.

2. Within the applicable rules.
   • 1885, Marietta Holley, Sweet Cicely; or, Josiah Allen as a politician, page 177:

     He said they give licenses now to steal — steal folks'es senses away, and then they would steal every thing else, and murder, and tear round into every kind of wickedness. But he didn't ask that. He wanted things done fair and square: he jest wanted to steal horses. He was goin' West, and he thought he could do a good business, and lay up something. If he had a license, he shouldn't be afraid of bein' shot up, or shot.

   • 1930, Edna Ferber, Cimarron, page 23:

     They had crawled in and staked the land and stood ready to shoot those of us who came in, fair and square, in the Run.

   • 1976 October 28, Charlie Waters, quoting S. I. Hayakawa, “First biennial Harold Stassen Awards”, in The Prescott Courier:

     For the "Most Accurate Assessment of an International Situation" the unanimous winner is the Republican U.S. Senate hopeful from California, S.E. Hayakawa. He said, "Of course we should keep the Panama Canal, we stole it fair and square."

3. In all fairness; equitably.
   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 76:

     "Have it out with him to-night. Fair and square. Out he goes, Edmund, neck and crop. Out, by thunder."

Translations

fairly and undoubtedly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 光明正大地 (zh) (guāngmíngzhèngdà de)

• Finnish: reilusti ja selvästi
• French: à la loyale
• Japanese: 公明正大 (ja) (kōmeiseidai), 堂々と (ja) (dōdō to)
• Portuguese: de forma justa
• Spanish: en buena lid
• Swedish: rätt och riktig

within the applicable rules

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 光明正大地 (zh) (guāngmíngzhèngdà de)

• Finnish: sääntöjen puitteissa
• French: à la loyale
• Japanese: 不正なく (ja) (fusei naku)
• Portuguese: justissimamente
• Spanish: justamente (es), con todas las de la ley
• Swedish: rätt och riktig

Adjective

fair and square (not comparable)

1. Unquestionably fair.
   • 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter IX, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 91–92:

     “[…] I always liked you Joe, and stood up for you, too. Don’t you remember? You won’t tell, will you Joe?” And the poor creature dropped on his knees before the stolid murderer, and clasped his appealing hands. / “No, you’ve always been fair and square with me, Muff Potter, and I won’t go back on you.—There, now, that’s as fair as a man can say.”

   • 1995, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, page 1436:

     It was a fair and square deal. We won. And we won in the Senate. And it's in the bill. And I didn't think we could beat them, but we did.

Related terms

• fairly and squarely