Hail Mary

noun

plural Hail Marys

1

: a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary that consists of salutations and a plea for her intercession

2

or less commonly Hail Mary pass : a long forward pass in football thrown into or near the end zone in a last-ditch attempt to score as time runs out

—often used figuratively

The only potential cure is a stem-cell transplant, when you take somebody else's immune system and put it into yours. But right now that's kind of a Hail Mary pass.

—Douglas Cote, quoted in Bicycling

Examples of Hail Mary in a Sentence

He threw up a Hail Mary at the end of the first half.

Recent Examples on the Web

In film, Project Hail Mary debuted on Prime Video to 860M minutes viewed in its first three days. — Katie Campione, Deadline, 30 July 2026

The streaming premiere of Project Hail Mary on Prime Video led the movie chart with 860 million viewing minutes. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026

Trailing behind Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Project Hail Mary, Pegasus 3 and The Odyssey. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026

The Project Hail Mary star will portray Ghost Rider in a 2028 solo movie. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 26 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

translation of Medieval Latin Ave, Maria, from the opening words

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for Hail Mary

• askari
• astbury
• azeri
• banbury
• barberry
• blackberry
• blueberry
• canary
• cranberry
• dentary
• dewberry
• dogberry

Kids Definition

Hail Mary

noun

-ˈme(ə)r-ē, 

-ˈma(ə)r-ē, 

-ˈmā-rē

: a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary