a hundred and ten percent
A level of effort beyond what one can usually sustain; great exertion.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“She always gives a hundred and ten percent at work.”
“I give a hundred and ten percent when I practice the piano.”
“Do you really give a hundred and ten percent in every gym session?”
“The team gave a hundred and ten percent to finish the project before the deadline.”
“If you want to win the scholarship, you must give a hundred and ten percent during your interview tomorrow.”
“The volunteers are giving a hundred and ten percent to clean up the park after the storm.”
“The lead singer gave a hundred and ten percent during the final encore, even though his voice was starting to fail after the long tour.”
“Though exhausted, the athlete dug deep and found a hundred and ten percent for that final sprint across the finish line.”
From the twentieth-century metaphor of operating a machine at higher than its rated capacity. The figure suggests a state of exertion that exceeds the normal maximum of a specific parameter, such as speed or temperature. To offer a hundred and ten percent is to treat the human output as a mechanical system pushed beyond its engineering limits.
- 01
51 percent
A narrow or bare majority.
- 02
bat five hundred
To be successful half of the time; to have a success rate of 50%.
- 03
be a hundred years too early
To be so immature and unprepared as to have no hope of achieving an accomplishment.
- 04
card of ten
A bold front, an instance of standing one's ground.
- 05
cock and Hen
[Cockney slang]ten
- 06
count to ten
An expression used to describe or recommend a process for pausing to regain one's composure when one is on the verge of losing one's temper.
- 07
five will get you ten
I strongly believe.
- 08
handbags at ten paces
Synonym of handbags at dawn (“a catty squabble”).
Last updated August 10, 2026