fair and square

fair and square idiom
Just and honest, as in He won the race fair and square. This redundant expression—fair and square mean essentially the same thing—probably owes its long life to its rhyme. [Early 1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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