Word.ws English Dictionary

mano a mano

mano a mano noun: a head-on conflict or direct competition.

Noun

mano a mano

  1. A head-on conflict or direct competition.
    • The public debate became a heated mano a mano between the two leading candidates.
    • Hemingway's subject for the epilogue was the mano a mano (or hand-to-hand, a duel) between Spain's two leading matadors, Luis Miguel Dominguin and his brother-in-law, Antonio Ordonez.1985 June 9, William Kennedy, “The Last Ole”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2020
    Synonyms:
    duel

Adjective

mano a mano (not comparable)

  1. In close confrontation.
    • We sat tensely in the courtroom while the mano-a-mano struggle ensued between the two skilled lawyers.
    • When he finally goes mano a mano with Xavier at the climax, it’s in a psychic battle staged inside the latter’s dreamspace, which happens to look exactly like his mansion.2016 May 23, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Apocalypse pits the strengths of the X-Men series against the weaknesses”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2017

Adverb

mano a mano (not comparable)

  1. Characterized by head-to-head competition or conflict.
    • The newcomer brashly engaged the veteran player mano a mano.
    • Baz: 'BAD NEWS, BUD. I NEVER WANTED TO FIGHTCHA, BUT IF WE WANT OUT, WE GOTTA SCRAP! YOU 'N ME, MANO A MANO.'2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Reize), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch

Synonyms of mano a mano

Forms of mano a mano

alternative formmano-a-mano

Origin of mano a mano

Borrowed from Spanish mano a mano (literally “hand-to-hand”); on equal footing, neither of two participants having any distinct advantage.

Questions about mano a mano

What does mano a mano mean?
Mano a mano means a head-on conflict or direct competition.
What part of speech is mano a mano?
Mano a mano can be a noun, an adjective or an adverb.

Words near mano a mano in the dictionary

  1. mannuronic
  2. mannuronic acid
  3. Mannus
  4. manny
  5. mano
  6. mano a mano
  7. mano cornuta
  8. mano destra
  9. mano sinistra
  10. mano y mano
  11. mano-

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mano a mano (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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