to the hilt

Related to to the hilt: up to the hilt

to the hilt

As much or to the greatest degree possible; completely or utterly. They've had to borrow to the hilt to get the company off the ground. We're ready to defend our client to the hilt in court.
See also: hilt
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

to the hilt

Also, up to the hilt. Completely, to the maximum degree, as in The house was mortgaged up to the hilt. This idiom alludes to the handle ( hilt) of a sword, the only portion that remains out when the weapon is plunged all the way in. The figurative use of the term was first recorded in 1687.
See also: hilt
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

to the hilt

or

up to the hilt

COMMON
1. If you do something to the hilt or up to the hilt, you do it to the greatest possible extent. He'll be a good candidate. We'll back him up to the hilt. If Fred raises this issue tomorrow, I'll defend my actions to the hilt.
2. If you borrow money to the hilt or up to the hilt, you borrow as much as possible. The company had borrowed to the hilt and still needed more capital. His father's estates were mortgaged up to the hilt. Note: The hilt of a sword or knife is its handle. The image here is of a knife or sword being pushed in all the way to the handle.
See also: hilt
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

(up) to the hilt

completely.
The image is that of plunging the blade of a knife deeply into something, so that only the hilt is visible.
See also: hilt
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

(up) to the ˈhilt

(support, etc. somebody) completely: I will support you to the hilt on this.
This expression refers to the full length of a sword, up to its handle (= the hilt).
See also: hilt
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

to the hilt

To the limit; completely: played the role to the hilt.
See also: hilt
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

up to the hilt

To the utmost. The hilt is the handle of a dagger or sword; when the weapon is plunged all the way into something, only the hilt stays out. The term, also put as to the hilt, was transferred to other kinds of extreme by the seventeenth century. “The estate was mortgaged up to the hilt,” wrote James Payn (Thicker than Water, 1883).
See also: hilt, up
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • hilt
  • up to the hilt
  • lay (something) to waste
  • lay to waste
  • made from whole cloth
  • made out of whole cloth
  • out of whole cloth
  • cut from whole cloth
  • cut out of whole cloth
  • chocolate
References in periodicals archive
* MEN OF THE MOMENT: Jordan Rhodes thanks the fans for their support in his incredible 40-goal season and, inset, chairman Dean Hoyle has back the club to the hilt for the last three years
Unbelievable!
I firmly believe that Gilo's views do not represent the majority opinion and I hope that Dave Jones realises the depth of feeling that we support him and back him to the hilt.
Let's back the manager to the hilt; VIEWPOINTS
The circus performers who now run the country appear to be turning it into a lunatic asylum, what with political correctness gone crazy; chaos in education; benefit claims reaching astronomical proportions; crises in the NHS and the dentists' exodus; Company pensions diminishing; pensioners' hard-earned savings taxed to the hilt; too lenient sentences for criminals and not enough protection for victims and law-abiding citizens.
Letter: Circus gone mad
Comuzzi's best bet is to play the cluster game to the hilt. He can win support for a mining technology cluster in Sudbury and a technology cluster built around the forestry faculty at Lakehead.
Earning a front row seat for the North
And she will be armed with 5,000 signatures on the petitions organised by the Sunday Mail who have backed Hamilton to the hilt.
HORSE RACING: D-Day for Hamilton
Publicly recorded, named votes on switching repair monies to videos and glossy propaganda or denying tenants early consultation on their future landlord, all show this former Bournville councillor backing stock transfer to the hilt.
Letter: Stock transfer a matter of record
John Duvall's haunting study of Toni Morrison's work is no less in search of "the figure in the carpet," and as in the Jamesian story, that "figure" is autobiographical to the hilt. Read rightly, Duvall argues, Morrison's work can be seen to declare nothing so tellingly as the scripted identity of its author.
The Identifying Fictions of Toni Morrison: Modernist Authenticity and Postmodern Blackness
Parting glittering drapes one at a time, a soldier, a showgirl, a macho construction worker, a cheerleader, and other archetypes of popular media entered, dressed (by Karl Lucifeld) to the hilt in hues of gold.
The Seven Deadly Sins. (National: Dancemakers Put New Spin On `Sins')
And that means they must demand that the Scottish Football Association back them to the hilt.
Football: SFA MUST BACK O'NEILL
Fashionable to the hilt with an infusion of international celebrities and new millionaires, the region has more recently produced a line of overblown mansions that many consider a social mistake by status seekers.
SAGAPONAC BEACON
Most online companies are playing their Spanish roots to the hilt, while claiming only nebulous Portuguese plans.
Respect! Just a Little Bit
My initial impressions in touring two facilities in the Gothenburg area were "sunny spaciousness" and "odor free." Even though the facilities varied markedly in size - a 189-resident multilevel "campus" vs a 28-resident "elderly care home" - both were laid out in neighborhood style and staffed to the hilt. Swedish caregiving authorities claim a 0.8 to 1.0 nursing staff-to-resident ratio in facilities throughout the country.
In quest of the perfect long-term care system - Sweden
As you may remember, Alabama's then-governor Fob James supported Moore to the hilt, even threatening to call out the National Guard if that's what it took to prevent the judge's carved wooden plaque from being removed.
DECALOGUE DIVISIVENESS
We're grateful to Smith for creating a screen showcase for Halston, even as we wish he had exploited her vivacious comic gifts to the hilt, particularly in a curiously tame cabaret sequence.
David Searching
policy continues to back the monarchy to the hilt."
Empire claptrap