à outrance

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French à outrance. Compare to the outrance.

Adverb

à outrance (not comparable)

1. To the greatest extent, to the utmost.
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 79:

     Here a crucial political decision was taken by unaminous vote: the armed revolt under preparation would not be one single blow aimed at drawing concessions from France, but an "unlimited revolution" à outrance to continue until full independence was achieved.

   • 2006, Boyd Hilton, A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?:

     However, apart from Windham and Fitzwilliam (and also the King, whose views hardly counted any more), no one in Government had any relish left for an ideological war à outrance.

   • 2012, Catherine Peters, “Court in the Act”, in Literary Review, number 399:

     Two other young men, both tutors to her sons, also figured sentimentally in her diaries, though not à outrance.

Anagrams

• urocanate

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a u.tʁɑ̃s/

• Audio (Paris)

  (file)

Adverb

à outrance

1. unremittingly, unflaggingly
2. to the utmost, to the death