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

Project Hail Mary won Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie alongside Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie for Ryan Gosling. — Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

Project Hail Mary led the movie charts for a second straight week with 922 million minutes on Prime Video, growing about 7 percent week to week. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2026

Obsession, Superman, Project Hail Mary and The Furious scored two wins each to lead the film side. — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2026

Mike Vrabel barked out instruction during a situational period working end-of-half plays, including one Hail Mary. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 5 Aug. 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