Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic,originallynautical,dated)Withwillingnessandzeal; with all one'sheartorstrength;earnestly,heartily.Synonym:resolutely1827November 27, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter VIII, inThe Red Rover,[…], volume III, Paris:[…][Lachevardiere]for Hector Bossange,[…],→OCLC,page179:«Yes!» muttered the Rover, with bitter irony, as his boat rowed under the stern of the cruiser of the Crown; «yes! I, and my officers, will taste of your banquet! But the viands shall be such as these hirelings of the King shall little relish!—Pullwith a will, my men, pull; in an hour, you shall rummage the store-rooms of that fool, for your reward!»1859July 16,Alfred Tennyson, “The Grandmother”, inEnoch Arden, &c., London:Edward Moxon & Co.,[…], published1864,→OCLC, stanza XV,page121:So Willy and I were wedded: I wore a lilac gown; / And the ringers rangwith a will, and he gave the ringers a crown.1866,John Ruskin, “Lecture I. Work. (Delivered before the Working Men’s Institute, at Camberwell.)”, inThe Crown of Wild Olive. Three Lectures on Work, Traffic, and War, London:Smith, Elder, & Co.,[…],→OCLC,page44:Now, nobody does anything well that they cannot help doing: work is only done well when it is donewith a will; and no man has a thoroughly sound will unless he knows he is doing what he should, and is in his place.1874,Thomas Hardy, “Adventures by the Shore”, inFar from the Madding Crowd.[…], volume II, London:Smith, Elder & Co.,[…],→OCLC,page208:Swimming with his right arm, he held up his left to hail them, splashing upon the waves, and shouting with all his might.[…]Backing their oars and putting the boat about, they pulled towards himwith a will, and in five or six minutes from the time of his first halloo, two of the sailors hauled him in over the stern.1881–1882,Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Voyage”, inTreasure Island, London; Paris:Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883,→OCLC, part II (The Sea Cook),pages77–78:And then the whole crew bore chorus:— / "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" / And at the third "ho!" drove the bars before themwith a will.1884May (date written),Robert Louis Stevenson, “Requiem”, inUnderwoods, London:Chatto and Windus,[…], published1887,→OCLC, book I (In English),page43:Underthe wide and starry sky, / Dig the grave and let me lie. / Glad did I live and gladly die, / And I laid me downwith a will.1904–1907(date written),James Joyce, “After the Race”, inDubliners, London:Grant Richards, publishedJune 1914,→OCLC,page56:Then an impromptu square dance, the men devising original figures. What merriment! Jimmy took his partwith a will; this was seeing life, at least.1934March 26, “Books: Hurstwurst [review ofAnitra’s Dance(1934) byFannie Hurst]”, inTime[1], New York, N.Y.:Time Inc.,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon24 December 2020,page70:Many a reader whose appetite rejoices in hearty fare tucked in his napkin, smacked his lips and fell towith a will.1982,Anita Desai, chapter 9, inThe Village by the Sea, New Delhi; New York, N.Y.:Puffin Books, published1992,→ISBN,page174:He got Jagu's permission to spend the slack afternoon hours at the watchmender's without any trouble – Jagu was taciturn, but good-natured – and he set to learning the craftwith a will.
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