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

Without many options, Castro heaved a Hail Mary pass to the father-daughter duo behind the nonprofit Emergency RV. —Michele Gile, CBS News, 27 Nov. 2025

One minute later, McNeilly dropped back and fired a Hail Mary toss toward home plate. —Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 26 Nov. 2025

On the final play of the first half of Sunday's matchup, Mayfield went down in a significant amount of pain after heaving a Hail Mary pass towards the end zone. —Reice Shipley, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025

With the film movie off that date, Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling will now be that only major release set to bow that weekend. —Justin Kroll, Deadline, 21 Nov. 2025

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