if push comes to shove (redirected from Push Comes to Shove)
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if push comes to shove
If the situation deteriorates or becomes desperate; if drastic measures are needed.
If push comes to shove, I have some extra savings I could tap into.
We'll at least have some leverage in the negotiations if push comes to shove.
See also: come, if, push, shove, to
when push comes to shove
When the situation deteriorates or becomes desperate; when drastic measures are needed.
When push comes to shove, I have some extra savings I could tap into.
We'll at least have some leverage in the negotiations when push comes to shove.
See also: come, push, shove, to
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
when push comes to shove and if push comes to shove
Fig. when things get a little pressed; when the situation gets more active or intense. When push comes to shove, you know I'll be on your side. If push comes to shove at the meeting, the front office can back you up with some statistics.
See also: come, push, shove, to
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
push comes to shove, if
Also, when push comes to shove. When matters must be confronted, when a crucial point is reached, as in If push comes to shove, the Federal Reserve Board will lower the interest rate, or They supposedly support equality, but when push comes to shove they always seem to promote a man instead of a woman . This term comes from rugby, where, after an infraction of rules, forwards from each team face off and push against one another until one player can kick the ball to a teammate and resume the game. Its figurative use dates from the 1950s. Also see the synonym if worst comes to worst.
See also: come, if, push, to
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.
when push comes to shove or if push comes to shove
COMMON If you talk about what someone will do when push comes to shove or if push comes to shove, you are talking about what they will do when it becomes necessary to do something difficult. They knew they could sit back, and when push came to shove I'd do all the work. They wouldn't support you, sir. If push came to shove, they wouldn't be behind you. Compare with when it comes to the crunch.
See also: come, push, shove, to
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
when (or if) push comes to shove when action must be taken; if the worst comes to the worst. informal
2001 Financial Director When push comes to shove, investors are not always impressed with promises of jam tomorrow.
See also: come, push, shove, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
if/when ;push comes to ;shove (informal) if/when there is no other choice; if/when everything else has failed: I don’t want to sell the house, but if push comes to shove, I might have to.
Shove means to push somebody in a rough way.
See also: come, if, push, shove, to
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
if push comes to shove verb
See when push comes to shove
See also: come, if, push, shove, to
when push comes to shove and if push comes to shove
phr. when things get a little pressed; when the situation gets more active or intense. If push comes to shove, the front office can help with some statistics.
See also: come, push, shove, to
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
push comes to shove, if/when
If/when matters become serious; when the situation is crucial; if worst comes to worst. This term, with its further implication that action should back up words, appears to have originated in African-American English around the middle of the twentieth century. Murtagh and Harris used it in Cast the First Stone (1958): “Some judges talk nice and polite. . . . Then, when push comes to shove, they say, ‘Six months.’”
See also: come, if, push, to
The Dictionary of Clich;s by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
See also:
if/when push comes to shove
push comes to shove, if
push comes to shove, if/when
when
when push comes to shove
push up
have to shove off
push up on
push up on (someone or something)
the rot sets in