Live to the hilt

Posted by R. Berg on February 22, 2003

In Reply to: Live to the hilt posted by David Dye on February 22, 2003

: I am looking for the meaning of the phrase: "Living life to the hilt". Do you know where this came from??
: Thanks you very much.
: David Dye

Doing anything "to the hilt" means doing it to the uttermost, with nothing held back, by analogy with plunging a sword or knife into a substance as far as the blade will go. A hilt is "the handle of a weapon or tool, particularly of a sword or dagger" (American Heritage Dict.).