Word.ws English Dictionary

Hail Mary pass

Hail Mary pass noun: a long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points.

Noun

Hail Mary pass (plural Hail Mary passes)

  1. A long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points.
    • With 11:04 left in the game, and a comfortable 38–14 lead, Smith heaved a 62-yard, Hail Mary pass to Carter.1983, “A Run for the Roses”, in Michigan Ensian, page 120
    • Maybe I should just toss up a “Hail Mary” pass deep into their territory, as though I was saying a prayer that one of our players would catch it.1990, Michael Teitelbaum, Play Book! Football, →OCLC, page 35
  2. (broadly) An act done in desperation, with only a very small chance of success.
    • Some liken that offensive to a “Hail Mary” pass, with the Taliban still entrenched throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan and a program to persuade Talib soldiers to lay down arms and be “reintegrated” into Afghan society having achieved little so far.2010 September 11, Mark Mazzetti, “As Time Passes, the Goals in Afghanistan Shrink”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Forms of Hail Mary pass

pluralHail Mary passes

Origin of Hail Mary pass

From Hail Mary, a prayer for intercession, from Latin Ave Maria, plus pass (“moving the ball from one player to another”). Attested from the 1970s in the context of American football.

Questions about Hail Mary pass

What does Hail Mary pass mean?
Hail Mary pass means a long forward pass with little chance of completion, typically used by the losing team when time is running out and no other play is practical, in a desperate attempt to score the winning points.
What part of speech is Hail Mary pass?
Hail Mary pass is a noun.
What is the plural of Hail Mary pass?
The plural of Hail Mary pass is Hail Mary passes.

Words near Hail Mary pass in the dictionary

  1. hail fellows well met
  2. hail from
  3. Hail Maries
  4. Hail Mary
  5. Hail Mary bead
  6. Hail Mary pass
  7. Hail Mary passes
  8. Hail Maryed
  9. Hail Marying
  10. Hail Marys
  11. hail shaft

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Hail Mary pass (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Hail Mary pass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hail_mary_pass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.