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fair and square

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Just and honest, as in He won the race fair and square. This redundant expression—fair and square mean essentially the same thing—probably owes its long life to its rhyme. [Early 1600s]

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Words nearby fair and square

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use fair and square in a sentence

  • I need hardly say, however, that the spider does not kill her prey by a mere fair-and-square bite alone.

    Science in Arcady|Grant Allen
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